Thursday, April 23, 2009

if you want it ...

teach it.

in thinking about manners with my own girly-girls and with the children that i work with on a daily basis ... i try to remember this exact phrase ... that a very smart woman once mentioned in a workshop that i attended.

if you want it ... teach it.

it reminds me that ...

not all children are exposed to the same things ...
not all children are required to say please and thank you ...
not all children have parents that model the manners that i expect ...
not all children are the same.

mind blowing, isn't it?

i teach my kiddos to say "good game" and shake hands with their partner's when they are finished playing a game ... regardless of who wins.
i teach my kiddos to say "more, please" ... pretty quickly after they learn to request "more".
i teach my kiddos to say "thank you" ... pretty quickly after they receive their request for "more please".
i teach my kiddos that it's ok to say "hi" when someone acknowledges you.
i teach my kiddos that it's important to use the manners that we've learned.
with each other ... with me ... and with everyone they encounter.

... if you want it, teach it ...

i love when others compliment us on how polite our girls are.
i love when they learned the unprompted pleases and thank yous.
i love watching them interact with people and acknowledge those around them ... all while remembering to be nice.
i love that they realize that using good manners makes them beautiful.

if you want it ... teach it.
and i'm trying to do just that.

spriteskeeper asked us to write about manners this week ... on the spin cycle.

8 comments:

Sprite's Keeper said...

Exactly! Practice what you preach! I have to remind myself sometimes to throw out the please and thank you in situations I would mostly take for granted. Very smart! You're linked!

Sprite's Keeper said...

By the way, loving the new header!

Rachel said...

me too! me too! I'm trying really hard. There are an unfortunate number of bad examples around for my girls these days.

Casey said...

Ahh, I love it. My two year old is more polite than half of the kids (and adults) I've come across. Let's all move to a big "polite people" commune so we can all be nice to each other all the time. I'm suck of rude people.

Captain Dumbass said...

My youngest is pretty good at all of that. My oldest has... issues.

Ginger said...

I love your attitude! And it's so true. I wish more parents were like you.

3 Peas in a Pod said...

Ooohhh love this post. Sorry I missed it. I constantly tell my kids to say please, thank you, excuse me, etc. Sometimes I catch myself not being polite and I'm trying to be more conscious of it. My Mom always taught my sis and I to be polite and I'm sorry I've lost sight of it a bit at home as I was famous for being polite. Don't want to lose THAT title!! LOL

My 4 yr old told 2 small children and their mommy to go away in the store today. I thought I was going to cry. He said he only says it to people he doesn't know. Insert me hitting my head with my hand right about now. Inside I was embarrassed but I'm trying to remember he's 4. Then we went to the chiropractor and held the door for everyone coming and going. He got some merit points for that.

Loved the post.

Much love from NJ,
Sue
xoxo

Keely said...

Great post :) So true. I had good a good model so I hope I can BE a good model.