Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

words of the Redeemer, "Ye are the light of the world."
Begin early to teach the little ones to take care of their clothing. Let
them have a place to lay their things away and be taught to fold every article
neatly and put it in its place. If you cannot afford even a cheap bureau, use a
dry-goods box, fitting it with shelves and covering it with some bright,
pretty-figured cloth. This work of teaching neatness and order will take a
little time each day, but it will pay in the future of your children, and in the
end will save you much time and care.
Some parents allow their children to be destructive, to use as playthings
things which they have no right to touch. Children should be taught that they
must not handle the property of other people. For the comfort and happiness
of the family, they must learn to observe the rules of propriety. Children are
no happier when they are allowed to handle everything they see. If they are
not educated to be caretaking, they will grow up with unlovely, destructive
traits of character.
Do not give the children playthings that are easily broken. To do this is
to teach lessons in destructiveness. Let them have a few playthings, and let
these be strong and durable. Such suggestions, small though they may seem,
mean much in the education of the child.
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