ails. Since
man is to play the active part in life, boys rejoice especially in rough
outdoor games. Girls, on the other hand, prefer such games as correspond
to their future occupations. Hence their inclination to mother smaller
children, and to play with dolls. Watch how a little girl takes care of
her doll, washes it, dresses and undresses it. When only six or seven
years of age, she is often an excellent nurse. As Padberg[15] pictures
her, she sits at the bedside of her sick brother or sister, resembling
as she does so an angel in human form. Her need to occupy herself in
such activities is often so great, that she pretends that her doll is
ill. Chamisso, in his poem _Das kleine Maedchen und die Puppe_ (_The
Little Girl and her Doll_), describes this relationship between the
child and her doll, one whose nature is fully understood only by a
mother:--

"Wie Du mit den kleinen Kindern,
Will ich alles mit ihr tun,
Und sie soll in ihrer Wiege
Neben meinem Bette ruhn.
Schlaeft sie, werd' ich von ihr traeumen,
Schreit sie auf, erwach' ich gleich,--
Mein himmlisch gute Mutter,
O, wie bin ich dock so reich!"

"All you do for your children,
For my Doll I do instead,
And in her little cradle
She lies beside my bed.
When she sleeps, I dream about her,
When she cries, I wake up too.
My own, dear, darling Mother,
I'm just as rich as you!"

Once I saw a little girl of seven running up and down the room, carrying
all kinds of things as fast as she could to her doll. When I asked her
what was the matter, she told me that her doll had the measles, and she
was taking care of her. In all kinds of ways, we see the little girl
occupying herself in the activities and inclinations of her future
existence. She practises housework; she has a little kitchen, in which
she cooks for herself and her doll. She is fond of needlework. The care
of her own person, and more especially its adornment, are not forgotten.
I remember seeing a girl of three who kept on interrupting her elders'
conversation by crying out "New clothes!" and would not keep quiet until
these latter had been duly admired. The love of self-adornment is almost
peculiar to female children; boys, on the other hand, prefer rough
outdoor games, in which their muscles are actively employed,
robber-games, soldier-games, and the like. And whereas, in early
childhood, both sexes are fond of very noisy games, the fondness for
these d