plays a
definite part in the wooing process; but at first the child is
self-sufficient and finds his pleasure entirely within himself. Other
regions of the body yield similar pleasure. We often find a tiny child
rubbing his genital organs or his thighs or taking exaggerated
pleasure in riding on someone's foot in order to stimulate these
nerves, which he has discovered at first merely by chance. When he
begins to run around, he loves to exhibit his own body, to go about
naked. None of this is naughtiness or perversion; it is only Nature's
preparation of trends that she will later need to use. The child is
normally and naturally in love with himself.[11] But he must not
linger too long in this stage. None of the channels which his
life-force is cutting must be dug too deep, else in later life they
will offer lines of least resistance which may, on occasion, invite
illness or perversion.

[Footnote 11: This is the stage which is technically known as
auto-eroticism or self-love.]

=In Love with His Family.= Presently Nature pries the child loose from
love of himself and directs part of his interests to people outside
himself. Before he is a year old, part of his love is turned to
others. In this stage it is natural that at first his affection should
center on those who make up his home circle,--his parents and other
members of the household. Even in this early choice we see a
foreshadowing of his future need. The normal little boy is especially
fond of his mother, and the normal little girl of her father. Not all
the love goes to the parent of the opposite sex, but if the child be
normal, a noticeably larger part finds its way in that direction.
Observing parents can often see unmistakable signs of jealousy: toward
the parent of the same sex, or the brother or sister of the same sex.
The little boy who sleeps with his mother while his father is away, or
who on these occasions gets all the attention and all the petting he
craves, is naturally eager to perpetuate this state of affairs. Many a
small boy has been heard to say that he wished his father would go
away and stay all the time,--to the horror of the parents who do not
understand. All this is natural enough, but it is not to be
encouraged. The pattern of the father or the mother must not be
stamped too deep in the impressionable child-mind. Too little love and
sympathy are bad, leading to repression and a morbid turning in of the
love-force; but too much petting, t