Freud_Burlingham_1943_War_and_Children_k_text

"You would have to drop a bomb down herbackbefore she would take notice!"It is different with the two of our childrenwho were brought in by excessively nervousmothers, women who had developed states ofgrave anxiety after having been bombed, oneat home and one in a shelter. Those mothersused to pull their children out of bed andstand around trembling; one child stood nearhis mother all night, unable to leave her. Theynaturally imparted their own fears to theirchildren. But even these children, after theseparation from their mothers, quickly losetheir state of tension and settle down to ordinarylife.ParentCo-operationWe were warned in the beginning that wewould find the London parents of the poorerclasses to be rather unappreciative, critical andonly too glad to dump their children on usand forget all about them and their furtherobligations. What we experience is exactly theopposite. With the exception of three motherswhom one can hardly regard as responsiblepersonalities, one can only admire the effortswhich the parents make for their childrenunder the worst possible conditions, their attemptsat co-operation with us and their realdelight at every chance which is offered to95