Page:Book of Etiquette, Volume 1, by Lilian Eichler.djvu/287

 workmanship, than two that are faulty and inferior. Teach her to appreciate material and she will always prefer quality to gaudiness.

It is not enough to give children the material things of life. There are some things that money cannot buy, and this thing we call "culture" is one of them. It is a part of the heavy responsibility of parents to lead the children in their charge into the paths of right thinking and right living and the task should be a joyous one. For every child born into the world has infinite possibilities and at its very worst the task is illumined by the ray of hope. Even the ugly duckling became a swan.

Make that your first commandment in your plan of child-culture. Know your children! And by "knowing" we do not mean their faults, their likes and dislikes, their habits. Know their ambitions, their little hopes, their fears and joys and sorrows. Be not only their advisors and parents, but their friends.

In his book, "Making the Most of the Children," La Rue says: "We may say there are four kinds of parents,—spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts." The spade parent, he explains, is buried in his work, eager only to clothe attractively the body of the child, but willing that its soul go naked. The club parent is engrossed in social activities; the father with his clubs and sports, the mother with her dinners and entertainments. The diamond par-