Raising Children Is A Creative

The Delight We Experience When We Allow Ourselves To Respond To A Fairy Tale, The Enchantment We Feel, Comes Not From The Psychological Meaning Of The Tale (although This Contributes To It) But From Its Literary Qualities-the Tale Itself As A Work Of Art.

What Children Learn From Punishment Is That Might Makes Right. When They Are Old And Strong Enough, They Will Try To Get Their Ownback; Thus Many Children Punish Their Parents By Acting In Ways Distressing To Them.

Although We Like To Think Of Young Children's Lives As Free Of Troubles, They Are In Fact Filled With Disappointment And Frustration. Children Wish For So Much, But Can Arrange So Little Of Their Own Lives, Which Are So Often Dominated By Adults Without Sympathy For The Children's Priorities. That Is Why Children Have A Much Greater Need For Daydreams Than Adults Do. And Because Their Lives Have Been Relatively Limited They Have A Greater Need For Material From Which To Form Daydreams.

The Child Knows Only That He Engages In Play Because It Is Enjoyable. He Isn't Aware Of His Need To Play--a Need Which Has Its Source In The Pressure Of Unsolved Problems. Nor Does He Know That His Pleasure In Playing Comes From A Deep Sense Of Well-being That Is The Direct Result Of Feeling In Control Of Things, In Contrast To The Rest Of His Life, Which Is Managed By His Parents Or Other Adults.

Parents Ought, Through Their Own Behavior And The Values By Which They Live, To Provide Direction For Their Children. But They Need To Rid Themselves Of The Idea That There Are Surefire Methods Which, When Well Applied, Will Produce Certain Predictable Results. Whatever We Do With And For Our Children Ought To Flow From Our Understanding Of And Our Feelings For The Particular Situation And The Relation We Wish To Exist Between Us And Our Child.