Manners

Manners.  It's almost become sort of a foreign word, hasn't it?  It seems few adults have them anymore & even fewer children have them.  I've been noticing lately just how few children there are that actually use good, proper manners when out in social situations, much less in their own home environment.

One of the coolest things about blogging is that it enables me to brag about my children as much as I want! Afterall, what parent doesn't like to brag about their child(ren)? So, with that being said, I'm going to take the opportunity to brag a bit about Kyle & Isabella's manners.

The words "please", "thank you", "no, thank you" & "excuse me" are part of their every day vocabulary.  They use these words on a regular, daily basis.   I rarely have to remind them to use their manners.

When Kyle receives a gift from someone he writes them a thank-you card.  Jim & I taught him (just as we'll teach the girls) that it's very important to be appreciative & thankful.  It's very important to be kind & polite.  It's very important to treat others as you want to be treated.  I assumed most parents taught these same kinds of things to their children but I'm discovering that very few even bother.  It seems that a lot of parents have gotten lazy in teaching their children much of anything related to manners.  And I'm not just saying that.  I'm basing this on things I've seen & heard.  Facts.  Let me elaborate..

A few weeks ago we attended a pizza party.  I helped pass out plates of pizza & drinks.  Out of a bunch of kids only Kyle & 1 other said please & thank you.  When I asked if anyone wanted more only Kyle responded.  The others barely made eye contact with me, much less acknowledged my question..

Last night Kyle & I attended a social event.   All of the kids were around Kyle's age & most of the parents were around my age.  It was a rainy night so parents were shuffling their kids into the building quickly.  There was a woman in front of me carrying an infant in a car seat while trying to hold onto her 2 younger kids hands.  The person in front of her literally let the door slam shut before she could grasp it.  She was clearly preoccupied with just getting herself & her own child into the building.  So I asked Kyle to get the door, which he willingly did.  I stepped to the side to let the woman with the 3 children through.  She thanked us.  As I was stepping out to walk thru the door another parent came up & all but shoved me to the side to get through the door.  SO rude.  Even worse was her child who said to Kyle "ha-ha you're getting wet!".  Yeah.  Real funny?  Later, at this same event, the kids all lined up to get some goodies - brownies, cupcakes, cookies & such.  At least 3 kids pushed past Kyle to get to the front of the line.  Every single kid loaded their plate with TONS of goodies, to the point where most of them needed help from their parents to bring their plate to the table.  I think I overheard *maybe* 2 out of 10 kids say "please" and/or "thank you".  When it was Kyle's turn he politely asked for 1 cupcake.  One.  Just one.  I said to him "Honey, is that all that you want?  You can have anything you want - cookies, brownies, candy etc!".  His response to me was "I only want 1 for now Mom.  If I'm still hungry afterwards I'll get something else but I don't want to be wasteful".  Talk about feeling proud of my kid!!  But in a matter of seconds, mere seconds!, my good feeling was washed away when I overheard a parent behind me talking to someone else.  She said "Jesus, talk about an overload of manners, huh?".  HUH?!  An overload of manners?  What the heck is that?!  In that moment it became clear to me just how much Kyle stands out (and in a GOOD way, if you ask me!).

In the past, when Kyle has had playdates at others houses, the parents have commented on how polite & well mannered he is.  Often times the parents will jokingly say things like "I WISH my son/daughter were so polite!"  or "Can you teach my kid those kinds of manners?"...as if it's a rare, difficult thing to teach.  Weird..

Even at Bella's young age she will say "mi-mi"(excuse me) when she's trying to get by someone (or even someTHING)!

Our children are the future.  It's up to us, as their parents, to teach them well.  It's up to us to guide them in the right direction & it's up to us to give them the tools they need in order to make good decisions. 

There are more than enough disrespectful, impolite adults in the world today.  I want my children to grow up respecting not only me & my husband but everyone - adults AND children alike.  I don't expect them to change the ways of people but even if they only have an impact on just 1 individual then my goal will be accomplished.  One person can make a difference, no matter how old or young they may be. 

We need to start from the bottom & work our way up.  The key is to get started!!

Manners, values & morals are what we, as a whole, need more of.  I hope our children will continue to contribute these things to society & help to make their world a nicer, kinder place.