A Child's World: Part II

American children practice certain commendable but anomalous self restraints that are hard to account for. They seem to comprehend that beer, wine, and ardent spirits are for adults, while soda‐pops are for young people. So long as they may participate in all festivities, that is all that matters. Mother and father drink coffee, but the children clamour for milk. The reason for the abstention could possibly be that soda‐pops and milk taste sweeter than caffeine and alcohol. One further example is worthy of note. Little boys and girls like to watch their papas light up a pipe or smoke a cigar. The children may like to play with matches and pretend to smoke, but they seem to understand that smoking is not for children. Aside from these exceptions, little children assume their natural role only when they find that to be more profitable than to play “the man.”