While some mothers neglect their children, many become too absorbed in
them
While some mothers neglect their children, many become too absorbed in
them. The children become all of the mother”s life. As the young people
become older, their horizon naturally widens. During infancy the parents
can fill the child”s whole life, but soon other interests crave
attention. There is always a tragedy in store for the mother who refuses
to see that her children, as they grow older, will demand the human
experience necessary for individual growth and development. If the
mother has no other interest than her children she will one day be left
with a heart as empty as the home from which the children are gone.
There are so many interesting things in this world, and every mother
should have her hobby. She should have at least one hour each day sacred
to herself, in which she can relax and cultivate the mind. This will
help to fill the coming years, which too often prove barren. Loving
parents get all the reward they should expect from the beautiful
intimacy that exists between them and their growing children. So-called
ungrateful children have incompetent parents. Parents have no right to
demand gratitude. They do no more for their children than was done for
themselves in the morning of their lives. The right kind of parents
never want for rewards. They are repaid every day so long as they live.
Children grow under the care of their parents, but the parents also grow
and expand in understanding, sympathy and love through association with
their children.