Extract THREE
This is a direct quote from chapter 3 of the book, to
give you a taste of the language used throughout:
THERE MUST BE AUTHORITY.
The
first duty which devolves upon the mother in the training of her child is the
establishment of her authority over him - that is, the forming in him the
habit of immediate, implicit, and unquestioning obedience to all her commands.
And the first step to be taken, or, rather, perhaps the first essential
condition required for the performance of this duty, is the fixing of the
conviction in her own mind that it is a duty.
Unfortunately,
however, there are not only vast numbers of mothers who do not in any degree
perform this duty, but a large proportion of them have not even a theoretical
idea of the obligation of it.
An
Objection: I
wish my child to be governed by reason and reflection, says one. I wish
him to see the necessity and propriety of what I require of him,
so that he may render a ready and willing compliance with my wishes, instead of
being obliged blindly to submit to arbitrary and despotic power.
She
forgets that the faculties of reason and reflection, and the power of
appreciating the necessity and propriety of things, and of bringing
considerations of future, remote, and perhaps contingent good and evil to
restrain and subdue the impetuousness of appetites and passions eager for
present pleasure, are qualities that appear late, and are very slowly developed,
in the infantile mind; that no real reliance whatever can be placed upon them in
the early years of life; and that, moreover, one of the chief and expressly
intended objects of the establishment of the parental relation is to provide, in
the mature reason and reflection of the father and mother, the means of guidance
which the embryo reason and reflection of the child could not afford during the
period of his immaturity.
Although
the language used in this classic text seems quaint and archaic - the message is
as relevant today as it was when the ink was still wet on the page in 1871.
Some parents fail completely to exercise any authority over their own
children. This can make for a fractious household in the short term - and
children who grow up without self-discipline or respect for any authority.
(Sounds pretty 21st century to me!)
If you're keen to see how parental authority can be established, without using anger or violence, you can obtain your digital copy of Classic Parenting Secrets now - just click the link: ClassicParentingSecrets.com