He declares that he will not wear it, and throws it down upon the floor.

The temptation now is for the mother, indignant, to punish him, and then to order him to take up the cap which he had thrown down, and to feel that it is her duty, in case he refuses, to persist in the punishment until she conquers his will, and compels him to take it up and put it upon his head.
But instead of this, a safer and a better course, it seems to me, is to avoid a contest altogether by considering the offense complete, and the transaction on his part finished by the single act of rebellion against her authority.

She may take the cap up from the floor herself and put it in its place, and then simply consider what punishment is proper for the wrong already done.

Perhaps she forbids the boy to go out at all.

Perhaps she reserves the punishment, and sends him to bed an hour earlier that night.
The age of the boy, or some other circumstances connected with the case, may be such as to demand a severer treatment still.