ree of completion Your aim is to stretch his
will each time he attempts to do something a little further than
it tends to go of itself; to let him work a little past his first
impulse, so that he may learn by degrees to work when work is needed,
and not only when he feels like it.

UNTIDINESS

[Sidenote: Neatness Not Natural]

Essentially a fault of immaturity as this is, we must beware how we
measure it by a too severe adult standard. It is not natural for any
young creature to take an interest in cleanliness. Even the young
animals are cared for in this respect by their parents; the cow licks
her calf; the cat, her kittens; and neither calf nor kittens seem to
take much interest in the process. The conscious love of cleanliness
and order grows with years, and seems to be largely a matter of
custom. The child who has always lived in decent surroundings
by-and-by finds them necessary to his comfort, and is willing to make
a degree of effort to secure them. On the contrary, the street boy who
sleeps in his clothes, does not know what it is to desire a well-made
bed, and an orderly room.

[Sidenote: Remedies]

[Sidenote: Example]

[Sidenote: Habit]

The obvious method of overcoming this difficulty, then, is not to
chide the child for the fault, but to make him so accustomed to
pleasant surroundings that he not help but desire them. The whole
process of making the child love order is slow but sure. It consists
in (1) _Patient waiting on nature_: first, keep the baby himself sweet
and clean, washing the young child yourself, two or three times a day,
and showing your delight in his sweetness; dressing him so simply
that he keeps in respectable order without the necessity of a painful
amount of attention. (2) _Example_: He is to be accustomed to orderly
surroundings, and though you ordinarily require him to put away some
of his things himself, you do also assist this process by putting away
a good deal to which you do not call attention. You make your home not
only orderly but pretty, and yourself, also, that his love for you
may lead him into a love for daintiness. (3) _Habits_: A few set
observances may be safely and steadfastly demanded, but these should
be _very_ few: Such as that he should not come to breakfast without
brushing his teeth and combing his hair, or sit down to any meal with
unwashed hands. Make them so few that you can be practically certain
that they are attended to, for the whole value