He would invariably reply that the
secret of bringing up children was the same double secret that underlay
success in every other field--enthusiasm and patience. "It has always
been my belief," he would say, "that the head of a family should spend
at least as much time with his children as he does at his barber's or
his lodge, and, if possible, a little more. Children undoubtedly stand
in need of supervision. In the beginning, it is a question largely of
keeping them away from the matches and the laudanum. Fortunately, we
live at some distance from a trolley-line and there is no well in our
back-yard. As my children grew up, I made it a point to know what books
they were reading out of school and whether the boys were addicted to
the filthy cigarette habit. On the subjects of breakfast foods and
corporal punishment, I have always kept an open mind."
The experiment of living upon a basis of comradeship with one's children
which we see so frequently recommended was not a success in the case of
Wallabout Smith. "Although my boys are fond of me," he once told a
reporter, "they usually regard my presence as a bore.
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