Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

infant. If it is nervous and easily agitated, the mother's careful, unhurried
manner will have a soothing and correcting influence, and the health of the
infant can be very much improved.
Regularity in Tender, Loving Care
Children are committed to their parents as a precious trust, which God
will one day require at their hands. We should give to their training more
time, more care, and more prayer. They need more of the right kind of
instruction.
In many cases the sickness of children can be traced to errors in
management. Irregularities in eating, insufficient clothing in the chilly
evening, lack of vigorous exercise to keep the blood in healthy circulation, or
lack of abundance of air for its purification, may be the cause of the trouble.
Let the parents study to find the causes of the sickness and then remedy the
wrong conditions as soon as possible.
Children are generally brought up from the cradle to indulge the appetite
and are taught that they live to eat. The mother does much toward the
formation of the character of her children in their childhood. She can teach
them to control the appetite, or she can teach them to indulge the appetite
and become gluttons. The mother often arranges her plans to accomplish a
certain amount through the day; and when the children trouble her, instead of
taking time to soothe their little sorrows and divert them, something is given
them to eat to keep them still, which answers the purpose for a short time but
eventually makes things worse. The children's stomachs have been pressed
with food, when they had not the least want of it. All that was required was a
little of the mother's time and attention. But she regarded her time as
altogether too precious to devote to the amusement of her children. Perhaps
the arrangement of her house in a tasteful manner for visitors to praise, and
to have her food cooked in a fashionable style, are with her higher
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