Among the hardest crises we pass through in our family life is the illness of our children. And the stage of fever and sickness, with all its danger and its fear for the child's life, is not counted trying compared with the stage of convalescence, when the fever passes off and leaves the child worn out and drained of strength, in need of rest and care!! The mother fears that her sick child may be exposed to cold or fatigue or upset, so she keeps to his side and remains in his service all her day and her night, offering him everything he fancies and forgetting the rules she had laid down for him before the illness; so he breaks them all and grows artful at putting his mother to use and lording it over her, imposing his word by main force. That is why we see most of
our mothers dreading this stage — the stage of convalescence — and fearing its results, since it makes of their obedient child another child altogether: ill-tempered, disobedient, stubborn, crying at the least little thing.
Let us suppose, madam, that your child has just come out of the measles, and that he must now face days of stillness and rest: how can you make of this period a pleasant time for him, without its costing you great trouble?
The first thing you must learn from the doctor is the kind of activity your child can engage in without harm; for many mothers are stricter with their sick children than need be, and so turn their pretty beds into prisons that provoke their nervousness and their frenzy and lead them to form bad habits...
The wise mother can make of this negative period a positive, pleasant time, which the child passes happy and calm...
Here music plays its great part. Children of all ages take comfort in calm melodies, restful to the nerves, that carry them off to the world of slumber — and nothing is more beneficial to the child at this stage than natural sleep, which restores his strength and his vitality.
The games that may be called upon differ according to the child's age. But cutting out colored pictures, collecting them, and pasting them into a big album is among the best-loved of games and the most amusing. So look out your old magazines and give them to him one by one, and you will see the delight and joy in his eyes!
And beware of putting his toys into his bed all at once, for he will soon tire of them and boredom will show upon him. Put out a few of them at first, and whenever the child tires of them replace them with others; then you will see his pleasure renewed, and he will pass the long hours without crying or rebellion...
It is a useful idea, too, to read him a story from his book and join with him in telling its happenings — but let this serve as an interlude between the music and the games. Variety keeps boredom at bay, and the child remains ever pleased, in a serene, calm atmosphere far from rebellion and agitation...
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