It ought to be reasonably clear that if a mother does desert her
responsibility, and leaves to the care of a hired employee the
development of her child's moral and spiritual feelings, the results are
liable to be very unsatisfactory. It is the same story over again, which
we took account of in connection with the heart feelings. Nagging,
scolding, lack of sympathy, false standards, superstitions, threats,
deceptions, bug-a-boos--are all apt to take a hand in forcing a
necessity for discipline and deforming character. The tangles of
temper, fear, deception, resentment, will never be unravelled and
patiently straightened out. In their wake, are pretty sure to come,
sooner or later, scenes with mother and father--hypocritical or defiant,
cajoling, whining, or tempestuous--in which harsh and ugly words will
sometimes play a part.
And one fine day, the mother will probably vouchsafe the remark, as so
many modern mothers have done in my presence, that when certain boys, or
girls, reach a certain age, they get so that it is quite impossible to
do anything with them at home and the only sensible way is to ship them
off to a boarding-school.
How much of a mother's time is required for the right kind of care for
her children? Who can judge of each case, but the right kind of mother?
Whatever the child has need of, that is for her to watch over and give,
to the fullest of her capacity.
And what of the role of a father in this most vital of responsibilities?
It is essentially that of a help-mate--to bring cheer and comfort and
courage, and the tenderest of protection and support. "The hand that
rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"--so says the old
adage. In any case, it is upon the sanctity and devotion of mother love
that the future of our race depends--and the deepest feeling of a manly
man has never doubted it.
There is much, much more that might be said about the relationship of a
father to a mother, and of a mother to a father. The right foundation
for it should be the deepest of moral and spiritual feelings. The true
significance of it cannot help being eternal, not temporary. In no
department of life, has the scientific principle of self-interest and
the rule of reason had a more confusing, corrupting, and destructive
influence. To attempt to translate the meaning of a marriage into terms
of a business partnership is a ghastly mockery.
This subject is too big and the discussion of it would carry us too far
afield, to be undertaken in the present connection. Our attention has
been confined, for the time being, to mother love and the formation of
character for the next generation.
And the next question which confronts mother love is the question of
schools and school education--one of the most perplexing and troubling
of all, and yet unavoidable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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