Parental prohibitions of undesirable acts, as well as suggestions of wished-for conduct, should be so uniform, constant, and consistent that the child will be able to deduce from them what his course of conduct should be when confronted in the future with the desire to do or not to do an act of similar nature. It is thus that he builds up his standard of conduct and formulates his code of morals. Trivial objections to acts or conduct, not grounded in reason and justice, inspire disrespect for parents and disobedience to their authority, and befog the moral vision of childhood. If the child is to respect parental authority, he must have been so habituated to obedience by the parental system of government that he will obey easily and involuntarily from force of habit. Habit is the tendency to do naturally, easily, and with growing certainty those things which we are accustomed by constant repetition to do. The habit of obedience is formed most easily in early childhood and when obedience becomes crystallized into habit, a strong foundation has been laid for the building of strong character. Obedience is cultivated by consistency in parental commands which invariably must be founded on reason and justice and enforced with a firmness of will which cannot be swayed by sentimental considerations of leniency. Consistency is a jewel which shines nowhere so brightly as in the crown of child-training, but it must be mounted in resolute adherence to fixed ideals of character-culture. Obedience should be distinguished from unwilling submission to a superior force. The former implies subjection of the will and actions to rightful restraint and not servile submission to authority which is exercised unjustly. The founders of our republic were obedient to the highest promptings of liberty and justice when they revolted against the many acts of injustice imposed by the mother country. Likewise the obedience of a child can be enforced only through parental commands which are founded on justice and reason; and we should even go a step farther and convince him that they are just and reasonable. Here is a typical case: A boy requested permission of his mother to go swimming--as boys are wont to do. She replied, “No! you may not go!” “But why not, mother?” was the natural and reasonable inquiry of her son. “Just because I don’t want you to go,” was the unconvincing answer. “Ah! that’s no reason, mother. Why can’t I go?” “Because I have said no! Now, that settles it!” And with this answer she concluded the colloquy.