Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Quote from Emile

"The first tears of children are prayers. If one is not careful, they soon become orders. Children begin by getting themselves assisted; they end by getting themselves served...

When the child stretches out his hand without saying anything, he believes he will reach the object because he does not estimate the distance. He is mistaken. But when he complains and screams in reaching out his hand, he is no longer deceived as to the distance; he is ordering the object to approach or you to bring it to him. In the first case, carry him to the object slowly and with small steps. In the second act as though you do not even hear him...

It is important to accustom him early not to give orders ether to men, for he is not their master, or to things, for they do not hear him."


I thought this both humorous and true...especially in the light of my little assertive one, Oliver. This photo, by the way, was taken on exactly such an occasion.

6 comments:

Paul & Beth said...

That is so true and what a good way to look at...I like the idea to carry them to the object. But oh, how demanding those little ones can be...those little sin natures demanding that self be gratified. Thanks Jodi for sharing that.
God bless your day.
Beth

Mainely Me said...

Very well said. It helps to have it spelled out so clearly.

Jen said...

But what about using The Force?

Amber said...

Hi there! Yes we arrived in Ethiopia on July 18th so we were prob there at the same time :) It is amazing how small the world has become since we started our adoption. What agency did you guys use....Was it dove? I saw a pic of our lawyer Sintyu (sp?) my email is athomas80@cox.net if you want to email me directly.

Sheri said...

What personality little Ollie has already! He's going to be a fun one!!! I'm loving how different all four are and so looking forward to seeing Noah and Olivers' personalities emerge.

Eyes_Wide_Open said...

May The Force be with you Ollie.

;)