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INTEREST THE CHILDREN

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Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 24, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 56, No. 1

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INTEREST THE CHILDREN.

A lady gave us a rule, not long since, by which she had succeeded in interesting her lively, fun-loving boys, so they preferred to remain at home evenings instead of seeking amusement elsewhere.
Other mothers, who are troubled by the frequent requests of their children to go on the street or to the store, as soon as it is dark, may like to hear it repeated.
She said: “I remember that children are children, and must have amusements. I fear that the abhorrence with which some good parents regard any play for children, is the reason why their children go away from home for pleasure. Husband and I used to read history, and at the end of each chapter ask some questions, requiring the answer to be looked up if not given correctly.
“We follow a similar plan with the children; sometimes we play one game, and sometimes another, always planning with books, stories, plays, or treats of some kind to make the evenings at home more attractive than they can be made abroad. I should dislike to think any one could make my children happier than I can, so I always try to be at leisure in the evening, and to arrange something entertaining.
“When there is a good concert, lecture, or entertainment, we all go together and enjoy it; for whatever is worth the price of admission for us older people, is equally valuable to the children, and we let them see that we spare no expense when it is really for their advantage to be out an evening.
“But the greater number of our evenings are spent quietly at home. Sometimes it requires an effort to sit leisurely talking and playing with them when my work-basket is filled with unfinished work, and books and papers lie unread on the table; but as the years go by and I see my boys and girls growing into home-loving, modest young men and maidens, I am glad that I have made it my rule to give the best of myself to my family.”—Selected.