How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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The image contains the following text:
affection and regard. The first-born is forgotten, and only
a first-born child can understand the bitterness and
disillusion of the tragedy of desertion by those in whose
confidence and devotion he had invested his sole hope of
salvation. The older child frequently develops a neurosis
at this point unless the intelligent handling of the situa¬
tion by his parents opens new avenues of social
significance to him. The best course, naturally, is to
give the older child the feeling that he has not been
deserted at all. This is accomplished by warning him of
the advent of the new-born child, and preparing the first¬
born to find significance and love in the care and custody
of the younger child. It is important that the older child
should feel that the attention to the younger child is not
a detraction of interest from him, but a necessary
consequence of the younger child’s weakness.
It is a very good thing to put the older child in a
nursery school at this time, and it is essential that a
world of new privileges, new toys, and new activities be
opened to him. A practical hint to mothers : if an older
child develops night terrors, or bed-wetting, or stuttering,
or cruelty, or temper tantrums, or abnormal timidity and
shyness after the birth of a younger child, it is a certain
sign that he feels himself wrongly dethroned. These are
symptoms of a childhood neurosis and should be ve ry care¬
fully treated, by friendly explanation and encouragement.
If the child does not react, he should be taken to a competent
psychiatrist or teacher schooled in child guidance. These
symptoms are not just bad habits—they are critical
symptoms of fear, of discouragement, of withdrawal —
forerunners of an inferiority complex. Their meaning: is
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always : It you won t pay attention to me and love me
as you used to do, I’ll compel you to do it by being ill ! ”
The old way of treating such conduct disorders of child¬
hood by liberal applications of the birch and hair-brush is
inexcusable. For one thing it seldom cures the habits ;
for another, the child wins his point and gains the
attention of his parents, for he does not discriminate
between a kiss and a spanking in these situations.