THE LITTLE ONES OF THE FAMILY AND THE GLORY OF MOTHERHOOD—CONCLUSION.
“Like olive plants round about thy table.”—Psa. cxxviii. 3.
Those of you, my dear girl friends, who are members of large families, know how very soon the little ones begin to observe what is passing around them. One never-ending marvel, in connection with infant life, is the amount of knowledge gained during the first year of a child’s existence.
The little creatures come into an unknown world where everything is strange. Even the mother’s face has to be studied and learned off by heart.
How quickly the baby eyes begin to follow the movements of those around them! How soon they learn to discriminate between one face and another, one object that is pleasant to the sight and a second that inspires fear or dislike!
How marvellous is that instinct of self-preservation which moves the little hand to twine itself round an outstretched finger, or to clutch at any object within its reach!
Has it not been to you, baby’s sister, almost as much as to the mother, a source of pride and delight to observe that the new-comer was “beginning to take notice”? If the downy head is turned in your direction, there is quite a ring of triumph in your voice as you say, “I am sure he knows me.”
You see, I picture my girls as loving sisters with tender, motherly instincts, and I decline to believe that there is one amongst them who does not love these little ones.
If children begin to observe so soon, how important it is that those who are round and about the life-path, on which, as yet, they can only place a little tottering foot, should be careful that they see only what is worthy of imitation. We, who are, perforce, the patterns which the children are certain to copy, should be doubly watchful over ourselves for their dear sakes.
You and I need to be ever on the watch on our own account, and the prayer “Lord, I cry unto thee. Keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing. Deliver my feet from falling,” must often go up from our hearts to God, if we are sensible of our needs and weaknesses.
Have you not a double reason for the prayer that you may be kept from sin, whether in word or deed, if you are elder sisters in homes where the children must certainly learn by your example? I would not only urge you never to utter a wrong or impure expression, but also to avoid the foolish talk which even some older people think the only kind suited to children. Use habitually the best words you know, so that the little ones may have nothing to unlearn that they have heard from your lips. Speak clearly and distinctly, avoid shrieking, boisterous laughter, and discordant tones, so that baby’s voice, imitating yours, may be clear and even musical from the first.