MANNERS

As a mother of two young children we work many hours, situations, and  discussions regarding manners. The right, wrong, proper, nice, improper of how actions, words, etc make others feel. As a whole my children mind their manners as age appropriate with a few exceptions.

We write thank you notes, say please, thank you, excuse me, mr., miss, aunt, uncle, hold doors for others, visit our elders, random acts of kindness, speak when spoken too (we still need to work on interrupting....)but ...you get the picture. Recently I have been very dis-heartened by the actions of adults in our small, rural, overall friendly area.

Last week my children and I were at a weekly event. A little 3 year old came in bursting with excitement and politely looked at a mother (not his but a fellow playmates) and said "Hello, how are you".  The words were plainly spoken and easily understood. The mother looked by the little guy as if he didn't say a word. He was deflated and hurt. I was sitting there and made a point "Good morning _________, how are you today?". He beamed and spoke back. At age 2-3 this was a huge exchange. How can someone ignore a child who is working on conversational skills, politeness and manners. It has stuck with me for days...children are innocent, curious and impressionable....Be polite to them just as we expect them to us!

Today a very similar situation happened. The kids and I were grocery shopping, just the three of us. In the product section Layton and Julia greeted at least 5-7 people. "Hi, How are you" or "Hello" or "Good morning". I watched in utter amazement as time and time again the kids were ignored. My kids made eye contact, so it was clear who the greeting was directed to. Each time someone ignored them, the kids looked so sad and forlorn.   Only one very nice lady replied. "Good morning to you, I'm good today, how are you?" The kids were all smiles!!

The best way to teach manners is to model positive ideal behavior. If you expect a child to have manners, treat children with politeness and manners too!

Ok, I'm off my soap box. Yes, I encourage my kids to treat others with respect and be polite. Greeting others is the first step.