Your postscript was brief, but pregnant with suggestion, and called for
this long reply.
I shall write you again in a few days.
To Mrs. Charles Gordon
_Concerning Her Children_
Your wish to have your son, who is now four years old, begin to develop
the manly qualities, and your oldest daughter, who has reached the
mature age of three, start wisely on the path to lovely womanhood, is
far from being premature.
"The tree inclines as the twig is bent," we are told.
Most mothers wait until the tree is in blossom before they begin to
train its inclination.
Your boy is quite old enough to be taught manly pride, in being useful
to you and his sisters.
Such things are not successfully taught by preaching or scolding or
punishing; but are more easily inculcated by tact and praise,
object-lesson and play.
A four-year-old boy is all ears when his father's praises and
achievements are recounted. Any father, save a brute, is a hero in the
eyes of his four-year-old son. I am sure Mr. Gordon has many admirable
traits you can use as interesting topics.
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