They emphasize the gospel of doing, for Froebel believes in positives
in teaching, not negatives; in stimulants, not deterrents. How
inexpressibly tiresome is the everlasting "Don't!" in some households.
Don't get in the fire, don't play in the water, don't tease the kitty,
don't trouble the doggy, don't bother the lady, don't interrupt, don't
contradict, don't fidget with your brother, and _don't_ worry me
now; while perhaps in this whole tirade, not a word has been said of
something to do.
Let sleeping faults lie as long as possible while we quietly oust
them, little by little, by developing the good qualities. Surely the
less we use deterrents the better, since they are often the child's
first introduction to what is undesirable or wrong. I am quite sure
they have something of that effect on grown people. The telling us not
to do, and that we cannot, must not, do a certain thing surrounds it
with a momentary fascination. If your enemy suggests that there is a
pot of Paris green on the piazza, but you must not take a spoonful and
dissolve it in a cup of honey and give it to your maiden aunt who has
made her will in your favor, your innocent mind hovers for an instant
over the murderous idea.
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