Saddler

“ These people want to buy some article at the saddler's shop. They do not go in, but stare through the windows for five minutes. The saddler, knowing the Indian way of dealing, pays no attention to them. ”

“ When mother and I went to packing up for our return, we found that we did not have pack saddles enough for all of our camp outfit. Besides our tepee, bedding, clothing, and utensils, we had sixteen sacks of dried meat and two sacks of service berries. This was too much for our eight pack saddles. Mother said that we could get along if we had two more saddles so I told her to use mine for one and I would ride bareback. She did not like to do this, but she finally consented, and another boy let us have his saddle, so we packed ten horses. ”

“ For father always liked a horse to have some wool upon his loins whenever he went far from home, and had to stand about, where one pleased, hot, and wet, and panting. And father always said that saddles were meant for men full-grown and heavy, and losing their activity; and no boy or young man on our farm durst ever get into a saddle, because they all knew that the master would chuck them out pretty quickly. ”

“ A little later I saw Tom on the back of a huge black walk-trot saddle-horse of show quality—passing up the Lane at a fast clip, his feet half way to the stirrups, holding on to the saddle with one hand, the bridle-rein in the other. A year or two ago I should have been afraid to permit that, but we manage now to relieve the young ones of a large part of our fears for their welfare. Children have enough to overcome from their parents. Frequently the New Age young people have to master their heredity before they begin upon themselves. ”

“ However we arrived there with the remains of my dear little boy, whom I had no sooner seen laid in the ground, than I was taken ill, and a premature birth was the consequence; but the child, which was another boy, lived, and I loved it with ten times more affection, from having lost its brother, and its being born in a strange country. I was too weak to nurse it myself, and a black woman was provided to suckle it. ”

“ You will pardon me for being personal when I say that since our own little fellow was six weeks old his clothes have been washed and mended and his food has been prepared by earnest and honest women who had not fitted themselves for the career which this boy's mother had chosen. His mother went to her office, cared for her patients, kept up by the side of her husband in the battle of life. All the time there was a woman at home just devoted to that little fellow. ”

“ They build sham fortifications, truly works of art, with their blocks, while the girls are happiest with dolls and household sets. However, occasionally we meet a mother who has a girl who is really a boy in her tastes for toys, and so we say to that mother: give the little girl the desire of her heart; if it's a train instead of a doll, or a toy gun instead of a doll's trunk, well and good, let her have them. What we want are free and easy, natural, children. They are much more likely to have good nerves, clean thoughts, sound digestion, and equalized circulation. ”

“ His hair began to curl, and a neighbor, remarking on it to Laurelia, and forgetting for the moment his parentage, said, in admiring glee, twining the soft tendrils over her finger, that Mrs. Sudley had never before had a child so well-favored as this one. From this time forth was infused a certain rancor into his foster-mother's spirit toward him. Her sense of martyrdom was complete when another infant was born and died, leaving her bereaved once more to watch this stranger grow up in her house, strong and hearty, and handsomer than any child of hers had been. ”

“ As a rule, it will be found best not to argue with the nervous child. The moment your commands are not heeded, when you have admonished the child once or twice without effect, take him quickly to the crib or the nursery and there leave him alone, isolated, until he is in a state of mind to manifest a kindly spirit and an obedient disposition. It is an excellent plan quietly and quickly to deprive such children of their pleasures temporarily, in order to produce thoughtfulness ”

“ No other factor enters so largely into the sure "spoiled" harvest as picking a new baby up every time he cries. Often in the early days some indulgent parent will say, "Oh, don't turn out the light, something might happen to the dear little thing"—and old Mother Nature sees to it that a constant repetition of "leaving the light on" brings its sure harvest of "he just won't go to sleep without the light." And then, "just once" he had the pacifier—perhaps to prevent his crying disturbing some sick member of the family—and so we go on and on. ”

“ My poor little baby! At this time I see the corner of the room where his cradle stood—and his cradle too—and I cannot help seeing him in the cradle. Little lamb! and the snow would not melt on his limbs! I have some faint recollections that he had that difficulty of breathing once before I left England—or was it Hartley? “A child, a child is born, and the fond heart dances; and yet the childless are the most happy.” ”

“ We shall see hundreds of small children, not more than five or six years of age, carrying, fast asleep on their shoulders, the baby of the household, its tiny smooth brown head swinging hither and thither with every movement of its small nurse, who walks, runs, sits, or jumps, flies kites, plays hop-scotch, and fishes for frogs in the gutter, totally oblivious of that infantile charge, whether sleeping or waking. If no young sister or brother be available, the husband, the uncle, the father, or grandfather hitches on his back the baby, preternaturally good and contented. ”

“ His hands have been washed, his bowels have moved, his hair has been combed, his breakfast has been eaten by the side of his mother—she has directed it all. He goes forth to the schoolroom and she goes forth to her profession. All through the day she lovingly keeps in mind these children that are growing up. ”

“ From two to six years of age, when the imagination is most plastic and vivid, when the child's imitative instinct is so unconsciously automatic, is the most effective and opportune time to initiate good habits and lay the foundations for the later development of a strong and noble character. "Baby's skies are Mamma's eyes" is just as true as it is poetical. While a tired and worn-out mother, exhausted by a multitude of harrassing household cares, may be pardoned for her occasional irritability, nevertheless the little one unconsciously partakes of her spirit. ”

“ At four months the normal baby will hold up his head; and if he is supported at the back with a pillow, he will sit erectly—holding his head up—at six months; while at eight months or not later than nine, the normal child should sit alone on the floor with no support. Later in the ninth month he often manifests a desire to bear his weight upon his feet. Care is here urged that the mother protect the little fellow at this time and not allow him to rest his weight upon his feet but a moment or two at a time. ”

“ And if nature had been niggardly in one respect, she had been generous in others; Toddles, for all his size, possessed the heart of a lion and the strength of a young ox, and he used both, with black and bloody effect, on the eyes and noses of the call-boys and younger element who called him Toddles. ”

“ At this very early, tender age whenever he opens his mouth to cry or even murmur—some fond auntie or some overly indulgent caretaker flies to his side as if she had been shot out of a gun, grabs him up and ootsey tootsey's him about as she endeavors to entertain and quiet him. The next time and the next time and the succeeding time he whimpers—like a flash someone dashes to the side of the basket, and baby soon learns that when he opens his mouth and yells, somebody comes. In less than a week the mischief has been done and baby is badly spoiled. ”

“ To the mother who has passed through the experience of bringing the child into the world is usually given that intuitiveness which helps her in caring for that child when it is well and in recognizing certain symptoms when it is sick. The newborn baby brings with him a large responsibility, but as the weeks pass by his care becomes less and less of a nervous strain, as the routine duties, so nearly alike each day of his little life, have made the task comparatively easy ”

“ My dear little woman, the child is not going to die every time it sneezes, the house is not bound to get burned down and the nurse run away with a soldier every time you go outside the front door; nor the cat sure to come and sit on the precious child’s chest the moment you leave the bedside. You worry yourself a good deal too much about that solitary chick, and you worry everybody else too. Try and think of your other duties, and your pretty face will not be always puckered into wrinkles, and there will be cheerfulness in the parlor as well as in the nursery. Think of your big baby a little. ”

“ The control of these nervous habits is somewhat like the management of the slipping of the wheels of a locomotive when the track is wet and slippery. The little folks ofttimes endeavor to apply the brakes, but they are minus the sand which keeps the wheels from slipping. The parent, with his well-planned discipline, is able to supply this essential element, and thus the child is enabled to gain a sufficient amount of self-control to prevent him making a continuous spectacle of himself. ”

“ Do you know the thought of a baby without a mother to cuddle it always brings the tears to my eyes? Traveling to distant New England with a father who, although kind, seemed some way unfitted to his duties, as a straight-legged chair might if used for a lullaby rocker, were two bits of folks, a boy and a girl, one four, the other two years old. The careful father brushed their hair very nicely and washed their mites of faces with great regularity. ”

“ The manner of carrying the infant is contrary to that of civilized custom. It is borne on the back under the clothes of the mother, which form a pouch, and from which its tiny head is generally visible over one or the other shoulder, but on being observed by strangers it shrinks like a snail or a marsupian into its snug retreat. ”

“ Within the limitations of the possibilities of hereditary endowment, and in view of this wonderful imitative nature, we are able to make of a child almost anything we desire; not "an angel," in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but a child who knows his place and possesses the power of normal self-control. ”

“ The baby is fastened on its mother's or its sister's shoulders by a shawl, and that serves it for both cot and cradle. The little girl does not lose a single scrap of her play because of the baby. She runs here and there, striking with her battledore, or racing after her friends, and the baby swings to and fro on her shoulders, its little head wobbling from side to side as if it were going to tumble off. ”

“ For many days and ofttimes weeks the mother is unfit—physically unable—properly to care for her child, and so104 whether it be the trained assistant in constant attendance or the visiting nurse in her daily calls, or the kind, willing, but unskilled neighbor—each helper must acquaint herself, in varying degrees, with the physical, nervous, and mental needs of the child, as well as take into account and anticipate the numerous habits and wants of the new born babe, such as urination, bowel movement, pulse, respiration, temperature, etc. ”

“ Occasionally the face turns blue, in such an instance, the mother is directed to strain vigorously and presses down heavily on the abdomen with both her hands, this usually hurries matters materially, and the body of the child follows quickly. The baby should cry at once. If the child does not show signs of life, quick, brisk slapping on the back usually brings relief. ”

“ A constant tossing off of the covers at night occurs early in rickets, but, of course, is seen in many healthy infants, especially if they are too warmly covered. A baby shows a desire to be propped up with pillows or to sit erect or to be carried in the mother's arms with its head over her shoulder whenever breathing is much interfered with, as in diphtheria of the larynx and in affections of the heart and lungs. ”

“ She possesses a maturity in the management of the household which few elders have. Everything goes on and is done without any one noticing that it is being done. “Is there anything more charming than this sixteen year old little house mother in her housekeeping activities?” says one of her admirers. “Just look, let her do what she will, she accomplishes it in the best way and at the same time most beautifully.” She is quite contented in the position which she has made. Her eroticism seems completely satisfied. ”

“ On the other hand, a thoughtless caretaker will excitedly jump and catch up the slightly injured child, coddle it, rock it, pet it—and the crying continues indefinitely. This early training in meeting minor hurts and obstacles lasts throughout the lifetime. Pluck and grit are lacking. The behavior of the man in the face of difficulties is foreshadowed by the attitude of the child toward his petty trials and bumps. ”

“ I was informed by a mother that a heavy sandbag which she accidentally found became her most cherished doll, because it had in it the weight of an actual child, and so she gave herself up to the illusion and imagined herself to be carrying a real child. ”

“ Baby talk is very cunning, and often the adult members of the family pick it up and keep it up for years, and only when they are exposed in public, as one mother was on a suburban platform by her four-year-old lad shouting, "Mamma, too-too tain tumin, too-too tain tumin," do they sense their responsibility and realize how difficult it is to form new habits. ”

“ The swaddled baby is as incapable of moving a limb as if it were in reality the mummy it resembles in appearance, and the only apparent advantage of the practice is that a mother, when going out, could conveniently hang up her swaddled baby to a nail out of harm's way, in the comfortable assurance that by no possibility could it wriggle itself into mischief during her absence. The custom of swaddling arose from a belief that Nature was unable to perform her duties towards the growing child without aid from Art. ”