It is above all necessary, when you would obtain sub-
mission, to beware of playfulness. This supposes equali-
ty, and as soon as we laugh, we may resign our authority.
Sport often with your child — manifest to him the tender-
est love — but, when once obedience is demanded, smile



taAllttd 6F CHtLDRBK. 217

lio longer; caress no longer, do not even solicit. You
exercise a sacred right — and the feeling of this right is
weakened in the soul of your child, ais well as in yours,
whenever you employ such various resources.
Children will attempt, in i thousand ways, to accomplish
their little projects, or to disarm ybur resistance. En-
ticement, importunity, buffoonery, all are[in turn employed
hy them. We often see them venturing a succession of
contradictions, so graduated that we cannot find a moment
to stop them. These attempts are owing to our feeble,
and undecided manner of commanding. We have spoken
lightly, and have been lightly listened to. Before pro-
nouncing any command, it is necessary that a greater
seriousness, something more imposing in the countenance,
should announce to the child that the mother speaks, and
that the companion of his sports has disappeared. An
expression of decision and calmness is then important.
It instead of elevating the voice, we suddenly depress it,
we seem to address that which is »the most closly connect-
ed with the child, his conscience.
The following is a penal code for children of two years
old, the observance of which might save severer measures.
