Tamy over at 3 Sides Of Crazy has started a weekly feature to share common courtesy and etiquette tips. Each week has a different theme, this week is Every Day Manners.She asks: How were you taught everyday manners? How should manners be introduced in everyday life? At what point do you insist on good manners from children?
I'm sure you'd call it being taught, but manners were just expected. Please, thank you, excuse me... being polite was just a given growing up.
I can't remember the last time I heard a child asking if they may be excused from the table. Obviously it all has to start at home, but beyond that as well I think it's every adults responsibility to set a good example for children to follow. I also think it's the responsibility of the media to show better manners on television as well. I think back to how many times I've watched kids on tv shows get up from the table and storm out of the room and the parents do nothing. Yes, it's for drama and effect, but it's not setting a good example. Growing up, that was NOT an option. What message is it sending to the kids watching?
Manners were not enforced or expected from me growing up. I find them to be important and have passed that on to my children.
ReplyDeleteIt is something in my home that is a given also, my sons know how to display manners and that I expect them to do so properly.
I am very laid back on the whole Mr & Mrs. thing. My boys are allowed to call adults by name, unless it is clear that the adult expects to be addressed as Mrs. Whatever.
I am always proud and amazed by the number of people who comment to me or others how polite Bailey is and that he is welcome in their home.
My sons have never known anything different. My first sign that I was on the right track was Bailey at 2 1/2 saying God Bless You Grammy when my mother sneezed and she cried as she told him Thank You and then laughed when he replied, You're Welcome. It stunned her.
Perhaps kinda off topic, babbling about my children instead of my personal views, but well, it's the same thing, right?
I think you hit the nail on the head with the media influence. They may have been reruns, but I grew up with shows like Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, even the Brady Brunch where manners were demanded not only from children but also parents to create a cohesive family unit and elders were always respected.
ReplyDeleteMonique: Definitely the same thing. Since you raise your children based on your personal views.
ReplyDeleteTamy: I grew up more on Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact and Electric Company and Smurfs and Fraggle Rock... but I see a lot less manners in SpongeBob SquarePants, Hannah Montana and all the other shows my nieces and nephews are watching than I remember seeing growing up.