Chapter 5

OCTOBER THIRDHow, with a mother's ever anxious love,Still to retain him near her heart she strove.FirdausiOCTOBER FOURTHWindows of mansions in the skiesMust glow with infant faces,Or somewhere else in Paradise,The lovely laughter of their eyesLights up all heavenly places.Lucy LarcomOCTOBER FIFTHThat pitcher of mignonetteIs a garden in heaven setTo the little sick child in the basement.Henry Cuyler BunnerOCTOBER SIXTHWhen at morn I first awake,My mother's face I see,Smiling and all alight with loveAnd bending over me.Mary StanhopeOCTOBER SEVENTHWe need love's tender lessons taughtAs only weakness can;God hath his small interpreters:The child must teach the man.WhittierOCTOBER EIGHTHThen, while thy babes around thee cling,Shalt show us how divine a thingA woman may be made.WordsworthOCTOBER NINTHChild of the wavy locks, and brow of light—Then be thy conscience pure as thy face is brightMrs. BrowningOCTOBER TENTHThe thankful captive of maternal bonds.WordsworthOCTOBER ELEVENTHThe mother should consider herself as the child'ssun, a changeless and ever radiant world, whitherthe small restless creature, quick at tears andlaughter, light, fickle, passionate, full of storms, maycome for fresh stores of light, warmth and electricity,of calm and courage.AmielOCTOBER TWELFTHWhen grace is given us ever to beholdA child some sweet months old,Love, laying across our lips his finger, saith,Smiling with bated breath,"Hush, for the holiest thing that lives is here,And Heaven's own heart how near!"SwinburneOCTOBER THIRTEENTHSweet as the early song of birds,I heard those first delightful words,"Thou hast a child."HoodOCTOBER FOURTEENTHAnd a pretty boy was their best hope, next to theGod in heaven.WordsworthOCTOBER FIFTEENTHThe child soul is an ever bubbling fountain in theworld of humanity.FroebelOCTOBER SIXTEENTHBeware that he weepest, for the great throne ofGod keeps trembling when the orphan weeps.Sa'diOCTOBER SEVENTEENTHOne thing yet there is, that noneHearing, ere its chime be done,Knows not well the sweetest oneHeard of man beneath the sun,Hoped in heaven hereafter;Soft and strong and loud and light,Very sound of very light,Heard from morning's rosiest heightWhen the soul of all delightFills a child's clear laughter.SwinburneOCTOBER EIGHTEENTHEre thought lift up thy flower-soft lids to seeWhat life and love on earthBring thee for gifts at birth,But none so good as thine, who hast given us thee.SwinburneOCTOBER NINETEENTHChildhood had its litaniesIn every age and clime;The earliest cradles of the raceWere rocked to Poet's rhyme.WhittierOCTOBER TWENTIETHSweet little maid, with winsome eyesThat laugh all day through the tangled hair;Gazing with baby looks so wiseOver the arms of the oaken chair.Harry Thurston PeckOCTOBER TWENTY-FIRSTEverything in immortal nature is a miracle to thelittle child.Anatole FranceOCTOBER TWENTY-SECONDEven so this happy creature of herselfIs all-sufficient, solitude to herIs blithe society, who fills the airWith gladness and involuntary songs.WordsworthOCTOBER TWENTY-THIRDThe plays of childhood are the heart-leaves ofthe whole future life.FroebelOCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTHWhen e'er you are happy and cannot tell why,The Friend of the children is sure to be by.Robert Louis StevensonOCTOBER TWENTY-FIFTHSo brief and unsure, but sweeterThan ever a noon-dawn smiled,Moves, measured of no tune's meter,The song in the soul of a child.SwinburneOCTOBER TWENTY-SIXTHChildhood and its terrors rather than its raptures,take wings and radiance in dreams and sport likefireflies in the little night of the soul. Do not crushthese flickering sparks!RichterOCTOBER TWENTY-SEVENTHA child should always say what's trueAnd speak when he is spoken to,And behave mannerly at table:At least as far as he is able.Robert Louis StevensonOCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHTHBishop Thorold says that whenever a parentbegins to feel virtuous in sacrificing his sleep for hischild, he ceases to love his child. All I can say isthat the Bishop must have kept a night-nurse.From "The Finest Baby in the World"OCTOBER TWENTY-NINTHHe it was who bathed the little ones, who "buttonedup the backs" and tied careful "ribbin bows"here and there for the whole six; he who drilled themin "mannerly behavior" in court.Indeed he had always performed most of thesepersonal services, which were, so he generouslydistinguished them, "acts of love and not labor."Ruth McEnery StuartOCTOBER THIRTIETHO Wonderland of wayward Childhood! whatAn easy, breezy realm of summer calmAnd dreamy gleam and gloom and bloom and balmThou art!—The Lotus-land the poet sung,It is the Child-World while the heart beats young.James Whitcomb RileyFrom "A Child World." Copyright, 1897. Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.OCTOBER THIRTY-FIRSTPeople who write about children should alwaystell the truth. For to translate even a child'ssimplest day into words is to narrate one of the SevenWonders of the world.From "The Finest Baby in the World"NOVEMBERNOVEMBER FIRSTSelf-government with tenderness, hereyou have the condition of all authority overchildren.AmielNOVEMBER SECONDHeigh ho! Daisies and buttercups!Mother shall weave them a daisy chain;Sing them a song of the pretty hedge sparrow,That loved her brown little ones, loved them full fain:Sing, "Heart, thou art wide though the house be but narrow";Sing once and sing it again.Jean IngelowNOVEMBER THIRDFair little children, morning-bright,With faces grave, yet soft to sight,Expressive of restrained delight.Mrs. BrowningNOVEMBER FOURTHOur youth! Our childhood! That spring of springs!'T is surely one of the blessedest thingsThat nature ever intended.HoodNOVEMBER FIFTHAh how good a school is the school of home!Anatole FranceNOVEMBER SIXTHLoving she is and tractable, though wild;And innocence hath privilege in herTo dignify arch looks and laughing eyes.WordsworthNOVEMBER SEVENTHSweet baby, sleep; what ails my dear?What ails my darling thus to cry?Be still my child and lend thine earTo hear me sing thy lullaby.My pretty lamb, forbear to weep;Be still my dear: sweet baby, sleep.George WitherNOVEMBER EIGHTHThrough the soft, opened lips the airScarcely moves the coverlet.One little wandering arm is thrownAt random on the counterpane;And often the fingers close in haste,As if their baby owner chasedThe butterflies again.Matthew ArnoldNOVEMBER NINTHI saw her in childhood,A bright gentle thing,Like the dawn of the mornOr the dews of the spring:The daisies and harebellsHer playmates all day;Herself as light-heartedAnd artless as they.B. F. LyteNOVEMBER TENTHThy small steps faltering round our hearth,Thine een out-peering in their mirth,Blue een that, like thine heart, seemed givenTo be, forever, full of heaven.Mrs. BrowningNOVEMBER ELEVENTHDelight and liberty, the simple creedOf childhood, whether busy or at rest,With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast.WordsworthNOVEMBER TWELFTHI'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradleof gold on a bough of the willow,To the cho-heen-ho of the wind of the west andthe lulla-lo of the soft sea billow.Sleep, baby dear,Sleep without fear:Mother is here beside your pillow.Alfred Percival GatesNOVEMBER THIRTEENTHYou too, my Mother, read my rhymes,For love of unforgotten times;And you may chance to hear once moreThe little feet along the floor.Robert Louis StevensonNOVEMBER FOURTEENTHAnd still to childhood's sweet appealThe heart of genius turns,And more than all the sages teach,From lisping voices learns.WhittierNOVEMBER FIFTEENTHThe wondrous child,Whose silver warble wildOut-valued every pulsing soundWithin the air's cerulean round.EmersonNOVEMBER SIXTEENTHHe saw his Mother's face, accepting itIn change for heaven itself, with such a smileAs might have well been learnt there.Mrs. BrowningNOVEMBER SEVENTEENTHHeaven lies about us in our infancy!Shades of the prison house begin to closeUpon the growing boy.WordsworthNOVEMBER EIGHTEENTHWhen children are happy and lonely and good,The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.Robert Louis StevensonNOVEMBER NINETEENTHAnd then, he sometimes interwoveFond thoughts about a father's love,"For there," said he, "are spunAround the heart such tender ties,That our own children to our eyesAre dearer than the sun."WordsworthNOVEMBER TWENTIETHMay we presume to say that at thy birth,New joy was sprung in Heaven, as well as here on earth.DrydenNOVEMBER TWENTY-FIRSTDear five-years-old befriends my passion,And I may write till she can spell.Matthew PriorNOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND'T is thus, though wooed by flattering friends,And fed with fame (if fame it be),This heart, my own dear mother, bendsWith love's true instinct, back to thee.SwinburneNOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRDTo prayer, my child! And oh, be thy first prayerFor her, who many nights with anxious care,Rocked thy first cradle: who took thy infant soulFrom heaven and gave it to the world: then rifeWith love, still drank the gall of lifeAnd left for thy young lips the honeyed bowl.Victor HugoNOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTHAbove the hills, along the blue,Round the bright air, with footing true,To please the child, to paint the rose,The Gardener of the World, he goes.Robert Louis StevensonNOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTHChildren, aye, forsooth,They bring their own love with them when they come.Jean IngelowNOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTHWe came uponA wildfowl sitting on her nest, so stillI reached my hand and touched her: she did not stir;The snow had frozen round her, and she sat,Stone-dead, upon a heap of ice-cold eggs,Look, how this love, this mother, runs through allThe world God made—even the beast, the bird!TennysonNOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTHIn your hearts are the birds and sunshine,In your thoughts, the brooklet's flow.LongfellowNOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTHNo flower bells that expand and shrinkGleam half so heavenly sweet,As shine, on life's untrodden brink,A baby's feet.SwinburneNOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTHSt. Augustine said finely: "A marriage withoutchildren is the world without the sun."LutherNOVEMBER THIRTIETHThe child, the seed, the grain of corn,The acorn on the hill,Each for some separate end is bornIn season fit, and stillEach must in strength arise to work the Almighty will.Robert Louis StevensonDECEMBERDECEMBER FIRSTAs children play, without to-morrow,Without Yesterday.Agnes RobinsonDECEMBER SECONDShall those smiles be calledFeelers of love, put forth as if to exploreThis untried world?WordsworthDECEMBER THIRDWhen children are playing alone on the green,In comes the playmate that never was seen.Robert Louis StevensonDECEMBER FOURTHRespect childhood and do not hastily judge of it,either for good or evil.RosseauDECEMBER FIFTHWhat does little baby say,In her bed at peep of day?Baby says, like little birdie,Let me rise and fly away.Baby sleep a little longer,Till the little limbs are stronger,If she sleeps a little longerBaby too, shall fly away.TennysonDECEMBER SIXTH"Mother," asked a child, "since nothing is everlost, where do all our thoughts go?""To God," answered the mother, "who remembersthem forever.""Forever!" said the child. He bent his head and,drawing closer to his mother, murmured, "I amfrightened!"Which of us has not felt the same?SelectedDECEMBER SEVENTHHappy little children, seek your shady places,Lark songs in their bosoms, sunshine in their faces.Lucy LarcomDECEMBER EIGHTHThe mother, with anticipated glee,Smiles o'er the child, that, standing by her chair,And flattening its round cheek upon her knee,Looks up and doth its rosy lips prepareTo mock the coming sounds: at the sweet sightShe hears her own voice with new delight.S. T. ColeridgeDECEMBER NINTHA babe, in lineament and limbPerfect, and prophet of the perfect man.TennysonDECEMBER TENTHIn the children lies the seed-corn of the future.FroebelDECEMBER ELEVENTHWhen the bedtime shadows fall,I'm always sure of this,Just as I'm drifting off to dreams,I feel my Mother's kiss.Mary StanhopeDECEMBER TWELFTHGrandma's PrayerI pray that, risen from the dead,I may in glory stand—A crown, perhaps, upon my headBut a needle in my hand.I've never learned to sing or play,So let no harp be mine;From birth unto my dying day,Plain sewing's been my line.Therefore, accustomed to the endTo plying useful stitches,I'll be content if asked to mendThe little Angels' breeches.Eugene FieldDECEMBER THIRTEENTHThe studying child has all the needs of a creatingartist. He must breathe pure air; his body must beat ease; he must have things to look at and be ableto change his thoughts at will by enjoying form andcolor.George SandDECEMBER FOURTEENTHAt one dear knee we proffered vows,One lesson from one book we learned,Ere childhood's flaxen ringlets turnedTo black and brown on kindred brows.Tennyson

OCTOBER THIRD

How, with a mother's ever anxious love,Still to retain him near her heart she strove.Firdausi

How, with a mother's ever anxious love,Still to retain him near her heart she strove.Firdausi

How, with a mother's ever anxious love,

Still to retain him near her heart she strove.

Firdausi

Firdausi

OCTOBER FOURTH

Windows of mansions in the skiesMust glow with infant faces,Or somewhere else in Paradise,The lovely laughter of their eyesLights up all heavenly places.Lucy Larcom

Windows of mansions in the skiesMust glow with infant faces,Or somewhere else in Paradise,The lovely laughter of their eyesLights up all heavenly places.Lucy Larcom

Windows of mansions in the skies

Must glow with infant faces,

Or somewhere else in Paradise,

The lovely laughter of their eyes

Lights up all heavenly places.

Lucy Larcom

Lucy Larcom

OCTOBER FIFTH

That pitcher of mignonetteIs a garden in heaven setTo the little sick child in the basement.Henry Cuyler Bunner

That pitcher of mignonetteIs a garden in heaven setTo the little sick child in the basement.Henry Cuyler Bunner

That pitcher of mignonette

Is a garden in heaven set

To the little sick child in the basement.

Henry Cuyler Bunner

Henry Cuyler Bunner

OCTOBER SIXTH

When at morn I first awake,My mother's face I see,Smiling and all alight with loveAnd bending over me.Mary Stanhope

When at morn I first awake,My mother's face I see,Smiling and all alight with loveAnd bending over me.Mary Stanhope

When at morn I first awake,

My mother's face I see,

Smiling and all alight with love

And bending over me.

Mary Stanhope

Mary Stanhope

OCTOBER SEVENTH

We need love's tender lessons taughtAs only weakness can;God hath his small interpreters:The child must teach the man.Whittier

We need love's tender lessons taughtAs only weakness can;God hath his small interpreters:The child must teach the man.Whittier

We need love's tender lessons taught

As only weakness can;

God hath his small interpreters:

The child must teach the man.

Whittier

Whittier

OCTOBER EIGHTH

Then, while thy babes around thee cling,Shalt show us how divine a thingA woman may be made.Wordsworth

Then, while thy babes around thee cling,Shalt show us how divine a thingA woman may be made.Wordsworth

Then, while thy babes around thee cling,

Shalt show us how divine a thing

A woman may be made.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

OCTOBER NINTH

Child of the wavy locks, and brow of light—Then be thy conscience pure as thy face is brightMrs. Browning

Child of the wavy locks, and brow of light—Then be thy conscience pure as thy face is brightMrs. Browning

Child of the wavy locks, and brow of light—

Then be thy conscience pure as thy face is bright

Mrs. Browning

Mrs. Browning

OCTOBER TENTH

The thankful captive of maternal bonds.Wordsworth

The thankful captive of maternal bonds.Wordsworth

The thankful captive of maternal bonds.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

OCTOBER ELEVENTH

The mother should consider herself as the child'ssun, a changeless and ever radiant world, whitherthe small restless creature, quick at tears andlaughter, light, fickle, passionate, full of storms, maycome for fresh stores of light, warmth and electricity,of calm and courage.Amiel

The mother should consider herself as the child'ssun, a changeless and ever radiant world, whitherthe small restless creature, quick at tears andlaughter, light, fickle, passionate, full of storms, maycome for fresh stores of light, warmth and electricity,of calm and courage.Amiel

The mother should consider herself as the child's

sun, a changeless and ever radiant world, whither

the small restless creature, quick at tears and

laughter, light, fickle, passionate, full of storms, may

come for fresh stores of light, warmth and electricity,

of calm and courage.

Amiel

Amiel

OCTOBER TWELFTH

When grace is given us ever to beholdA child some sweet months old,Love, laying across our lips his finger, saith,Smiling with bated breath,"Hush, for the holiest thing that lives is here,And Heaven's own heart how near!"Swinburne

When grace is given us ever to beholdA child some sweet months old,Love, laying across our lips his finger, saith,Smiling with bated breath,"Hush, for the holiest thing that lives is here,And Heaven's own heart how near!"Swinburne

When grace is given us ever to behold

A child some sweet months old,

Love, laying across our lips his finger, saith,

Smiling with bated breath,

"Hush, for the holiest thing that lives is here,

And Heaven's own heart how near!"

Swinburne

Swinburne

OCTOBER THIRTEENTH

Sweet as the early song of birds,I heard those first delightful words,"Thou hast a child."Hood

Sweet as the early song of birds,I heard those first delightful words,"Thou hast a child."Hood

Sweet as the early song of birds,

I heard those first delightful words,

"Thou hast a child."Hood

"Thou hast a child."

Hood

Hood

OCTOBER FOURTEENTH

And a pretty boy was their best hope, next to theGod in heaven.Wordsworth

And a pretty boy was their best hope, next to theGod in heaven.Wordsworth

And a pretty boy was their best hope, next to the

God in heaven.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

OCTOBER FIFTEENTH

The child soul is an ever bubbling fountain in theworld of humanity.Froebel

The child soul is an ever bubbling fountain in theworld of humanity.Froebel

The child soul is an ever bubbling fountain in the

world of humanity.

Froebel

Froebel

OCTOBER SIXTEENTH

Beware that he weepest, for the great throne ofGod keeps trembling when the orphan weeps.Sa'di

Beware that he weepest, for the great throne ofGod keeps trembling when the orphan weeps.Sa'di

Beware that he weepest, for the great throne of

God keeps trembling when the orphan weeps.

Sa'di

Sa'di

OCTOBER SEVENTEENTH

One thing yet there is, that noneHearing, ere its chime be done,Knows not well the sweetest oneHeard of man beneath the sun,Hoped in heaven hereafter;Soft and strong and loud and light,Very sound of very light,Heard from morning's rosiest heightWhen the soul of all delightFills a child's clear laughter.Swinburne

One thing yet there is, that noneHearing, ere its chime be done,Knows not well the sweetest oneHeard of man beneath the sun,Hoped in heaven hereafter;Soft and strong and loud and light,Very sound of very light,Heard from morning's rosiest heightWhen the soul of all delightFills a child's clear laughter.Swinburne

One thing yet there is, that none

Hearing, ere its chime be done,

Knows not well the sweetest one

Heard of man beneath the sun,

Hoped in heaven hereafter;

Soft and strong and loud and light,

Very sound of very light,

Heard from morning's rosiest height

When the soul of all delight

Fills a child's clear laughter.

Swinburne

Swinburne

OCTOBER EIGHTEENTH

Ere thought lift up thy flower-soft lids to seeWhat life and love on earthBring thee for gifts at birth,But none so good as thine, who hast given us thee.Swinburne

Ere thought lift up thy flower-soft lids to seeWhat life and love on earthBring thee for gifts at birth,But none so good as thine, who hast given us thee.Swinburne

Ere thought lift up thy flower-soft lids to see

What life and love on earth

Bring thee for gifts at birth,

But none so good as thine, who hast given us thee.

Swinburne

Swinburne

OCTOBER NINETEENTH

Childhood had its litaniesIn every age and clime;The earliest cradles of the raceWere rocked to Poet's rhyme.Whittier

Childhood had its litaniesIn every age and clime;The earliest cradles of the raceWere rocked to Poet's rhyme.Whittier

Childhood had its litanies

In every age and clime;

The earliest cradles of the race

Were rocked to Poet's rhyme.

Whittier

Whittier

OCTOBER TWENTIETH

Sweet little maid, with winsome eyesThat laugh all day through the tangled hair;Gazing with baby looks so wiseOver the arms of the oaken chair.Harry Thurston Peck

Sweet little maid, with winsome eyesThat laugh all day through the tangled hair;Gazing with baby looks so wiseOver the arms of the oaken chair.Harry Thurston Peck

Sweet little maid, with winsome eyes

That laugh all day through the tangled hair;

Gazing with baby looks so wise

Over the arms of the oaken chair.

Harry Thurston Peck

Harry Thurston Peck

OCTOBER TWENTY-FIRST

Everything in immortal nature is a miracle to thelittle child.Anatole France

Everything in immortal nature is a miracle to thelittle child.Anatole France

Everything in immortal nature is a miracle to the

little child.

Anatole France

Anatole France

OCTOBER TWENTY-SECOND

Even so this happy creature of herselfIs all-sufficient, solitude to herIs blithe society, who fills the airWith gladness and involuntary songs.Wordsworth

Even so this happy creature of herselfIs all-sufficient, solitude to herIs blithe society, who fills the airWith gladness and involuntary songs.Wordsworth

Even so this happy creature of herself

Is all-sufficient, solitude to her

Is blithe society, who fills the air

With gladness and involuntary songs.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

OCTOBER TWENTY-THIRD

The plays of childhood are the heart-leaves ofthe whole future life.Froebel

The plays of childhood are the heart-leaves ofthe whole future life.Froebel

The plays of childhood are the heart-leaves of

the whole future life.

Froebel

Froebel

OCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH

When e'er you are happy and cannot tell why,The Friend of the children is sure to be by.Robert Louis Stevenson

When e'er you are happy and cannot tell why,The Friend of the children is sure to be by.Robert Louis Stevenson

When e'er you are happy and cannot tell why,

The Friend of the children is sure to be by.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

OCTOBER TWENTY-FIFTH

So brief and unsure, but sweeterThan ever a noon-dawn smiled,Moves, measured of no tune's meter,The song in the soul of a child.Swinburne

So brief and unsure, but sweeterThan ever a noon-dawn smiled,Moves, measured of no tune's meter,The song in the soul of a child.Swinburne

So brief and unsure, but sweeter

Than ever a noon-dawn smiled,

Moves, measured of no tune's meter,

The song in the soul of a child.

Swinburne

Swinburne

OCTOBER TWENTY-SIXTH

Childhood and its terrors rather than its raptures,take wings and radiance in dreams and sport likefireflies in the little night of the soul. Do not crushthese flickering sparks!Richter

Childhood and its terrors rather than its raptures,take wings and radiance in dreams and sport likefireflies in the little night of the soul. Do not crushthese flickering sparks!Richter

Childhood and its terrors rather than its raptures,

take wings and radiance in dreams and sport like

fireflies in the little night of the soul. Do not crush

these flickering sparks!

Richter

Richter

OCTOBER TWENTY-SEVENTH

A child should always say what's trueAnd speak when he is spoken to,And behave mannerly at table:At least as far as he is able.Robert Louis Stevenson

A child should always say what's trueAnd speak when he is spoken to,And behave mannerly at table:At least as far as he is able.Robert Louis Stevenson

A child should always say what's true

And speak when he is spoken to,

And behave mannerly at table:

At least as far as he is able.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

OCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHTH

Bishop Thorold says that whenever a parentbegins to feel virtuous in sacrificing his sleep for hischild, he ceases to love his child. All I can say isthat the Bishop must have kept a night-nurse.From "The Finest Baby in the World"

Bishop Thorold says that whenever a parentbegins to feel virtuous in sacrificing his sleep for hischild, he ceases to love his child. All I can say isthat the Bishop must have kept a night-nurse.From "The Finest Baby in the World"

Bishop Thorold says that whenever a parent

begins to feel virtuous in sacrificing his sleep for his

child, he ceases to love his child. All I can say is

that the Bishop must have kept a night-nurse.

From "The Finest Baby in the World"

From "The Finest Baby in the World"

OCTOBER TWENTY-NINTH

He it was who bathed the little ones, who "buttonedup the backs" and tied careful "ribbin bows"here and there for the whole six; he who drilled themin "mannerly behavior" in court.Indeed he had always performed most of thesepersonal services, which were, so he generouslydistinguished them, "acts of love and not labor."Ruth McEnery Stuart

He it was who bathed the little ones, who "buttonedup the backs" and tied careful "ribbin bows"here and there for the whole six; he who drilled themin "mannerly behavior" in court.

He it was who bathed the little ones, who "buttoned

up the backs" and tied careful "ribbin bows"

here and there for the whole six; he who drilled them

in "mannerly behavior" in court.

Indeed he had always performed most of thesepersonal services, which were, so he generouslydistinguished them, "acts of love and not labor."Ruth McEnery Stuart

Indeed he had always performed most of these

personal services, which were, so he generously

distinguished them, "acts of love and not labor."

Ruth McEnery Stuart

Ruth McEnery Stuart

OCTOBER THIRTIETH

O Wonderland of wayward Childhood! whatAn easy, breezy realm of summer calmAnd dreamy gleam and gloom and bloom and balmThou art!—The Lotus-land the poet sung,It is the Child-World while the heart beats young.James Whitcomb Riley

O Wonderland of wayward Childhood! whatAn easy, breezy realm of summer calmAnd dreamy gleam and gloom and bloom and balmThou art!—The Lotus-land the poet sung,It is the Child-World while the heart beats young.James Whitcomb Riley

O Wonderland of wayward Childhood! what

An easy, breezy realm of summer calm

And dreamy gleam and gloom and bloom and balm

Thou art!—The Lotus-land the poet sung,

It is the Child-World while the heart beats young.

James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley

From "A Child World." Copyright, 1897. Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.

OCTOBER THIRTY-FIRST

People who write about children should alwaystell the truth. For to translate even a child'ssimplest day into words is to narrate one of the SevenWonders of the world.From "The Finest Baby in the World"

People who write about children should alwaystell the truth. For to translate even a child'ssimplest day into words is to narrate one of the SevenWonders of the world.From "The Finest Baby in the World"

People who write about children should always

tell the truth. For to translate even a child's

simplest day into words is to narrate one of the Seven

Wonders of the world.

From "The Finest Baby in the World"

From "The Finest Baby in the World"

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER FIRST

Self-government with tenderness, hereyou have the condition of all authority overchildren.Amiel

Self-government with tenderness, hereyou have the condition of all authority overchildren.Amiel

Self-government with tenderness, here

you have the condition of all authority over

children.

Amiel

Amiel

NOVEMBER SECOND

Heigh ho! Daisies and buttercups!Mother shall weave them a daisy chain;Sing them a song of the pretty hedge sparrow,That loved her brown little ones, loved them full fain:Sing, "Heart, thou art wide though the house be but narrow";Sing once and sing it again.Jean Ingelow

Heigh ho! Daisies and buttercups!Mother shall weave them a daisy chain;Sing them a song of the pretty hedge sparrow,That loved her brown little ones, loved them full fain:Sing, "Heart, thou art wide though the house be but narrow";Sing once and sing it again.Jean Ingelow

Heigh ho! Daisies and buttercups!

Mother shall weave them a daisy chain;

Sing them a song of the pretty hedge sparrow,

That loved her brown little ones, loved them full fain:

Sing, "Heart, thou art wide though the house be but narrow";

Sing once and sing it again.

Jean Ingelow

Jean Ingelow

NOVEMBER THIRD

Fair little children, morning-bright,With faces grave, yet soft to sight,Expressive of restrained delight.Mrs. Browning

Fair little children, morning-bright,With faces grave, yet soft to sight,Expressive of restrained delight.Mrs. Browning

Fair little children, morning-bright,

With faces grave, yet soft to sight,

Expressive of restrained delight.

Mrs. Browning

Mrs. Browning

NOVEMBER FOURTH

Our youth! Our childhood! That spring of springs!'T is surely one of the blessedest thingsThat nature ever intended.Hood

Our youth! Our childhood! That spring of springs!'T is surely one of the blessedest thingsThat nature ever intended.Hood

Our youth! Our childhood! That spring of springs!

'T is surely one of the blessedest things

That nature ever intended.

Hood

Hood

NOVEMBER FIFTH

Ah how good a school is the school of home!Anatole France

Ah how good a school is the school of home!Anatole France

Ah how good a school is the school of home!

Anatole France

Anatole France

NOVEMBER SIXTH

Loving she is and tractable, though wild;And innocence hath privilege in herTo dignify arch looks and laughing eyes.Wordsworth

Loving she is and tractable, though wild;And innocence hath privilege in herTo dignify arch looks and laughing eyes.Wordsworth

Loving she is and tractable, though wild;

And innocence hath privilege in her

To dignify arch looks and laughing eyes.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

NOVEMBER SEVENTH

Sweet baby, sleep; what ails my dear?What ails my darling thus to cry?Be still my child and lend thine earTo hear me sing thy lullaby.My pretty lamb, forbear to weep;Be still my dear: sweet baby, sleep.George Wither

Sweet baby, sleep; what ails my dear?What ails my darling thus to cry?Be still my child and lend thine earTo hear me sing thy lullaby.My pretty lamb, forbear to weep;Be still my dear: sweet baby, sleep.George Wither

Sweet baby, sleep; what ails my dear?

What ails my darling thus to cry?

Be still my child and lend thine ear

To hear me sing thy lullaby.

My pretty lamb, forbear to weep;

Be still my dear: sweet baby, sleep.

George Wither

George Wither

NOVEMBER EIGHTH

Through the soft, opened lips the airScarcely moves the coverlet.One little wandering arm is thrownAt random on the counterpane;And often the fingers close in haste,As if their baby owner chasedThe butterflies again.Matthew Arnold

Through the soft, opened lips the airScarcely moves the coverlet.One little wandering arm is thrownAt random on the counterpane;And often the fingers close in haste,As if their baby owner chasedThe butterflies again.Matthew Arnold

Through the soft, opened lips the air

Scarcely moves the coverlet.

One little wandering arm is thrown

At random on the counterpane;

And often the fingers close in haste,

As if their baby owner chased

The butterflies again.

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold

NOVEMBER NINTH

I saw her in childhood,A bright gentle thing,Like the dawn of the mornOr the dews of the spring:The daisies and harebellsHer playmates all day;Herself as light-heartedAnd artless as they.B. F. Lyte

I saw her in childhood,A bright gentle thing,Like the dawn of the mornOr the dews of the spring:The daisies and harebellsHer playmates all day;Herself as light-heartedAnd artless as they.B. F. Lyte

I saw her in childhood,

A bright gentle thing,

Like the dawn of the morn

Or the dews of the spring:

The daisies and harebells

Her playmates all day;

Herself as light-hearted

And artless as they.

B. F. Lyte

B. F. Lyte

NOVEMBER TENTH

Thy small steps faltering round our hearth,Thine een out-peering in their mirth,Blue een that, like thine heart, seemed givenTo be, forever, full of heaven.Mrs. Browning

Thy small steps faltering round our hearth,Thine een out-peering in their mirth,Blue een that, like thine heart, seemed givenTo be, forever, full of heaven.Mrs. Browning

Thy small steps faltering round our hearth,

Thine een out-peering in their mirth,

Blue een that, like thine heart, seemed given

To be, forever, full of heaven.

Mrs. Browning

Mrs. Browning

NOVEMBER ELEVENTH

Delight and liberty, the simple creedOf childhood, whether busy or at rest,With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast.Wordsworth

Delight and liberty, the simple creedOf childhood, whether busy or at rest,With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast.Wordsworth

Delight and liberty, the simple creed

Of childhood, whether busy or at rest,

With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

NOVEMBER TWELFTH

I'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradleof gold on a bough of the willow,To the cho-heen-ho of the wind of the west andthe lulla-lo of the soft sea billow.Sleep, baby dear,Sleep without fear:Mother is here beside your pillow.Alfred Percival Gates

I'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradleof gold on a bough of the willow,To the cho-heen-ho of the wind of the west andthe lulla-lo of the soft sea billow.Sleep, baby dear,Sleep without fear:Mother is here beside your pillow.Alfred Percival Gates

I'd rock my own sweet childie to rest in a cradle

of gold on a bough of the willow,

of gold on a bough of the willow,

To the cho-heen-ho of the wind of the west and

the lulla-lo of the soft sea billow.Sleep, baby dear,Sleep without fear:Mother is here beside your pillow.Alfred Percival Gates

the lulla-lo of the soft sea billow.

Sleep, baby dear,Sleep without fear:Mother is here beside your pillow.Alfred Percival Gates

Sleep, baby dear,

Sleep without fear:

Mother is here beside your pillow.

Alfred Percival Gates

Alfred Percival Gates

NOVEMBER THIRTEENTH

You too, my Mother, read my rhymes,For love of unforgotten times;And you may chance to hear once moreThe little feet along the floor.Robert Louis Stevenson

You too, my Mother, read my rhymes,For love of unforgotten times;And you may chance to hear once moreThe little feet along the floor.Robert Louis Stevenson

You too, my Mother, read my rhymes,

For love of unforgotten times;

And you may chance to hear once more

The little feet along the floor.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

NOVEMBER FOURTEENTH

And still to childhood's sweet appealThe heart of genius turns,And more than all the sages teach,From lisping voices learns.Whittier

And still to childhood's sweet appealThe heart of genius turns,And more than all the sages teach,From lisping voices learns.Whittier

And still to childhood's sweet appeal

The heart of genius turns,

And more than all the sages teach,

From lisping voices learns.

Whittier

Whittier

NOVEMBER FIFTEENTH

The wondrous child,Whose silver warble wildOut-valued every pulsing soundWithin the air's cerulean round.Emerson

The wondrous child,Whose silver warble wildOut-valued every pulsing soundWithin the air's cerulean round.Emerson

The wondrous child,

Whose silver warble wild

Out-valued every pulsing sound

Within the air's cerulean round.

Emerson

Emerson

NOVEMBER SIXTEENTH

He saw his Mother's face, accepting itIn change for heaven itself, with such a smileAs might have well been learnt there.Mrs. Browning

He saw his Mother's face, accepting itIn change for heaven itself, with such a smileAs might have well been learnt there.Mrs. Browning

He saw his Mother's face, accepting it

In change for heaven itself, with such a smile

As might have well been learnt there.

Mrs. Browning

Mrs. Browning

NOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!Shades of the prison house begin to closeUpon the growing boy.Wordsworth

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!Shades of the prison house begin to closeUpon the growing boy.Wordsworth

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

Shades of the prison house begin to close

Upon the growing boy.

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

NOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH

When children are happy and lonely and good,The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.Robert Louis Stevenson

When children are happy and lonely and good,The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.Robert Louis Stevenson

When children are happy and lonely and good,

The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

NOVEMBER NINETEENTH

And then, he sometimes interwoveFond thoughts about a father's love,"For there," said he, "are spunAround the heart such tender ties,That our own children to our eyesAre dearer than the sun."Wordsworth

And then, he sometimes interwoveFond thoughts about a father's love,"For there," said he, "are spunAround the heart such tender ties,That our own children to our eyesAre dearer than the sun."Wordsworth

And then, he sometimes interwove

Fond thoughts about a father's love,

"For there," said he, "are spun

Around the heart such tender ties,

That our own children to our eyes

Are dearer than the sun."

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

NOVEMBER TWENTIETH

May we presume to say that at thy birth,New joy was sprung in Heaven, as well as here on earth.Dryden

May we presume to say that at thy birth,New joy was sprung in Heaven, as well as here on earth.Dryden

May we presume to say that at thy birth,

New joy was sprung in Heaven, as well as here on earth.

Dryden

Dryden

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIRST

Dear five-years-old befriends my passion,And I may write till she can spell.Matthew Prior

Dear five-years-old befriends my passion,And I may write till she can spell.Matthew Prior

Dear five-years-old befriends my passion,

And I may write till she can spell.

Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND

'T is thus, though wooed by flattering friends,And fed with fame (if fame it be),This heart, my own dear mother, bendsWith love's true instinct, back to thee.Swinburne

'T is thus, though wooed by flattering friends,And fed with fame (if fame it be),This heart, my own dear mother, bendsWith love's true instinct, back to thee.Swinburne

'T is thus, though wooed by flattering friends,

And fed with fame (if fame it be),

This heart, my own dear mother, bends

With love's true instinct, back to thee.

Swinburne

Swinburne

NOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD

To prayer, my child! And oh, be thy first prayerFor her, who many nights with anxious care,Rocked thy first cradle: who took thy infant soulFrom heaven and gave it to the world: then rifeWith love, still drank the gall of lifeAnd left for thy young lips the honeyed bowl.Victor Hugo

To prayer, my child! And oh, be thy first prayerFor her, who many nights with anxious care,Rocked thy first cradle: who took thy infant soulFrom heaven and gave it to the world: then rifeWith love, still drank the gall of lifeAnd left for thy young lips the honeyed bowl.Victor Hugo

To prayer, my child! And oh, be thy first prayer

For her, who many nights with anxious care,

Rocked thy first cradle: who took thy infant soul

From heaven and gave it to the world: then rife

With love, still drank the gall of life

And left for thy young lips the honeyed bowl.

Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH

Above the hills, along the blue,Round the bright air, with footing true,To please the child, to paint the rose,The Gardener of the World, he goes.Robert Louis Stevenson

Above the hills, along the blue,Round the bright air, with footing true,To please the child, to paint the rose,The Gardener of the World, he goes.Robert Louis Stevenson

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air, with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The Gardener of the World, he goes.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH

Children, aye, forsooth,They bring their own love with them when they come.Jean Ingelow

Children, aye, forsooth,They bring their own love with them when they come.Jean Ingelow

Children, aye, forsooth,

They bring their own love with them when they come.

Jean Ingelow

Jean Ingelow

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH

We came uponA wildfowl sitting on her nest, so stillI reached my hand and touched her: she did not stir;The snow had frozen round her, and she sat,Stone-dead, upon a heap of ice-cold eggs,Look, how this love, this mother, runs through allThe world God made—even the beast, the bird!Tennyson

We came uponA wildfowl sitting on her nest, so stillI reached my hand and touched her: she did not stir;The snow had frozen round her, and she sat,Stone-dead, upon a heap of ice-cold eggs,Look, how this love, this mother, runs through allThe world God made—even the beast, the bird!Tennyson

We came upon

We came upon

A wildfowl sitting on her nest, so still

I reached my hand and touched her: she did not stir;

The snow had frozen round her, and she sat,

Stone-dead, upon a heap of ice-cold eggs,

Look, how this love, this mother, runs through all

The world God made—even the beast, the bird!

Tennyson

Tennyson

Tennyson

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH

In your hearts are the birds and sunshine,In your thoughts, the brooklet's flow.Longfellow

In your hearts are the birds and sunshine,In your thoughts, the brooklet's flow.Longfellow

In your hearts are the birds and sunshine,

In your thoughts, the brooklet's flow.

Longfellow

Longfellow

NOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH

No flower bells that expand and shrinkGleam half so heavenly sweet,As shine, on life's untrodden brink,A baby's feet.Swinburne

No flower bells that expand and shrinkGleam half so heavenly sweet,As shine, on life's untrodden brink,A baby's feet.Swinburne

No flower bells that expand and shrink

Gleam half so heavenly sweet,

As shine, on life's untrodden brink,

A baby's feet.

Swinburne

Swinburne

NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH

St. Augustine said finely: "A marriage withoutchildren is the world without the sun."Luther

St. Augustine said finely: "A marriage withoutchildren is the world without the sun."Luther

St. Augustine said finely: "A marriage without

children is the world without the sun."

Luther

Luther

NOVEMBER THIRTIETH

The child, the seed, the grain of corn,The acorn on the hill,Each for some separate end is bornIn season fit, and stillEach must in strength arise to work the Almighty will.Robert Louis Stevenson

The child, the seed, the grain of corn,The acorn on the hill,Each for some separate end is bornIn season fit, and stillEach must in strength arise to work the Almighty will.Robert Louis Stevenson

The child, the seed, the grain of corn,

The acorn on the hill,

Each for some separate end is born

In season fit, and still

Each must in strength arise to work the Almighty will.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

DECEMBER

DECEMBER FIRST

As children play, without to-morrow,Without Yesterday.Agnes Robinson

As children play, without to-morrow,Without Yesterday.Agnes Robinson

As children play, without to-morrow,

Without Yesterday.

Agnes Robinson

Agnes Robinson

DECEMBER SECOND

Shall those smiles be calledFeelers of love, put forth as if to exploreThis untried world?Wordsworth

Shall those smiles be calledFeelers of love, put forth as if to exploreThis untried world?Wordsworth

Shall those smiles be called

Feelers of love, put forth as if to explore

This untried world?

Wordsworth

Wordsworth

DECEMBER THIRD

When children are playing alone on the green,In comes the playmate that never was seen.Robert Louis Stevenson

When children are playing alone on the green,In comes the playmate that never was seen.Robert Louis Stevenson

When children are playing alone on the green,

In comes the playmate that never was seen.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

DECEMBER FOURTH

Respect childhood and do not hastily judge of it,either for good or evil.Rosseau

Respect childhood and do not hastily judge of it,either for good or evil.Rosseau

Respect childhood and do not hastily judge of it,

either for good or evil.

Rosseau

Rosseau

DECEMBER FIFTH

What does little baby say,In her bed at peep of day?Baby says, like little birdie,Let me rise and fly away.Baby sleep a little longer,Till the little limbs are stronger,If she sleeps a little longerBaby too, shall fly away.Tennyson

What does little baby say,In her bed at peep of day?Baby says, like little birdie,Let me rise and fly away.

What does little baby say,

In her bed at peep of day?

Baby says, like little birdie,

Let me rise and fly away.

Baby sleep a little longer,Till the little limbs are stronger,If she sleeps a little longerBaby too, shall fly away.Tennyson

Baby sleep a little longer,

Till the little limbs are stronger,

If she sleeps a little longer

Baby too, shall fly away.

Tennyson

Tennyson

DECEMBER SIXTH

"Mother," asked a child, "since nothing is everlost, where do all our thoughts go?""To God," answered the mother, "who remembersthem forever.""Forever!" said the child. He bent his head and,drawing closer to his mother, murmured, "I amfrightened!"Which of us has not felt the same?Selected

"Mother," asked a child, "since nothing is everlost, where do all our thoughts go?"

"Mother," asked a child, "since nothing is ever

lost, where do all our thoughts go?"

"To God," answered the mother, "who remembersthem forever."

"To God," answered the mother, "who remembers

them forever."

"Forever!" said the child. He bent his head and,drawing closer to his mother, murmured, "I amfrightened!"

"Forever!" said the child. He bent his head and,

drawing closer to his mother, murmured, "I am

frightened!"

Which of us has not felt the same?Selected

Which of us has not felt the same?

Selected

Selected

DECEMBER SEVENTH

Happy little children, seek your shady places,Lark songs in their bosoms, sunshine in their faces.Lucy Larcom

Happy little children, seek your shady places,Lark songs in their bosoms, sunshine in their faces.Lucy Larcom

Happy little children, seek your shady places,

Lark songs in their bosoms, sunshine in their faces.

Lucy Larcom

Lucy Larcom

DECEMBER EIGHTH

The mother, with anticipated glee,Smiles o'er the child, that, standing by her chair,And flattening its round cheek upon her knee,Looks up and doth its rosy lips prepareTo mock the coming sounds: at the sweet sightShe hears her own voice with new delight.S. T. Coleridge

The mother, with anticipated glee,Smiles o'er the child, that, standing by her chair,And flattening its round cheek upon her knee,Looks up and doth its rosy lips prepareTo mock the coming sounds: at the sweet sightShe hears her own voice with new delight.S. T. Coleridge

The mother, with anticipated glee,

The mother, with anticipated glee,

Smiles o'er the child, that, standing by her chair,

And flattening its round cheek upon her knee,

Looks up and doth its rosy lips prepare

To mock the coming sounds: at the sweet sight

She hears her own voice with new delight.

S. T. Coleridge

S. T. Coleridge

S. T. Coleridge

DECEMBER NINTH

A babe, in lineament and limbPerfect, and prophet of the perfect man.Tennyson

A babe, in lineament and limbPerfect, and prophet of the perfect man.Tennyson

A babe, in lineament and limb

Perfect, and prophet of the perfect man.

Tennyson

Tennyson

DECEMBER TENTH

In the children lies the seed-corn of the future.Froebel

In the children lies the seed-corn of the future.Froebel

In the children lies the seed-corn of the future.

Froebel

Froebel

DECEMBER ELEVENTH

When the bedtime shadows fall,I'm always sure of this,Just as I'm drifting off to dreams,I feel my Mother's kiss.Mary Stanhope

When the bedtime shadows fall,I'm always sure of this,Just as I'm drifting off to dreams,I feel my Mother's kiss.Mary Stanhope

When the bedtime shadows fall,

I'm always sure of this,

Just as I'm drifting off to dreams,

I feel my Mother's kiss.

Mary Stanhope

Mary Stanhope

DECEMBER TWELFTH

Grandma's Prayer

I pray that, risen from the dead,I may in glory stand—A crown, perhaps, upon my headBut a needle in my hand.I've never learned to sing or play,So let no harp be mine;From birth unto my dying day,Plain sewing's been my line.Therefore, accustomed to the endTo plying useful stitches,I'll be content if asked to mendThe little Angels' breeches.Eugene Field

I pray that, risen from the dead,I may in glory stand—A crown, perhaps, upon my headBut a needle in my hand.I've never learned to sing or play,So let no harp be mine;From birth unto my dying day,Plain sewing's been my line.Therefore, accustomed to the endTo plying useful stitches,I'll be content if asked to mendThe little Angels' breeches.Eugene Field

I pray that, risen from the dead,

I may in glory stand—

A crown, perhaps, upon my head

But a needle in my hand.

I've never learned to sing or play,

So let no harp be mine;

From birth unto my dying day,

Plain sewing's been my line.

Therefore, accustomed to the end

To plying useful stitches,

I'll be content if asked to mend

The little Angels' breeches.

Eugene Field

Eugene Field

DECEMBER THIRTEENTH

The studying child has all the needs of a creatingartist. He must breathe pure air; his body must beat ease; he must have things to look at and be ableto change his thoughts at will by enjoying form andcolor.George Sand

The studying child has all the needs of a creatingartist. He must breathe pure air; his body must beat ease; he must have things to look at and be ableto change his thoughts at will by enjoying form andcolor.George Sand

The studying child has all the needs of a creating

artist. He must breathe pure air; his body must be

at ease; he must have things to look at and be able

to change his thoughts at will by enjoying form and

color.

George Sand

George Sand

DECEMBER FOURTEENTH

At one dear knee we proffered vows,One lesson from one book we learned,Ere childhood's flaxen ringlets turnedTo black and brown on kindred brows.Tennyson

At one dear knee we proffered vows,One lesson from one book we learned,Ere childhood's flaxen ringlets turnedTo black and brown on kindred brows.Tennyson

At one dear knee we proffered vows,

One lesson from one book we learned,

Ere childhood's flaxen ringlets turned

To black and brown on kindred brows.

Tennyson

Tennyson


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