As a parent it is often frustrating when you are in a store and witnessing a mother dealing with her screaming child or your own child having a meltdown. In fact, this has happened to most mom’s at some point with their children whether or not we want to actually admit it. It can get pretty embarrassing if your child is having a meltdown and a stranger comes up to give you words of criticism on your parenting abilities or continues to stare at you and your child.
I wanted to share with you what Fiona, marketing manager from Storkup.com, has to say about teaching your child how to be polite and use their manners.
We’ve all seen that one child screaming and running around the grocery store like a maniac. And we have all been grateful that it isn’t ours. But what if it was? How do we help our children learn manners in a fun and easy to remember way? Million dollar question, right?
It can sometimes be tricky to find light-hearted ways to engage and teach our children. All they want to do is have fun, and nobody wants to be the boring parent. But part of being a child is learning, and being a parent means you have to teach. So we need to find a way to come down to their level and their frame of reference.
11 comments
Hi Finona & Christy,
Isn’t this the toughest things parents have to do?! Teach their kids the right manners and do so effectively so that it’s embedded into them.
Yes, simple things like when and how to say the golden words like please, sorry, thank you, excuse me etc., are words that our kids have to learn and we have to teach them. Your post reminded me of the time when my kids were small – though I wouldn’t say that parenting ends when kids grow up. I think it never really ends 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead, both of you 🙂
Thank you for stopping by Harleena being a parent is never ending even after the kids are grown and gone. It is easier to do your best to teach them at a young age so that it becomes a habit. 🙂
So tough! A lot of kids anymore don’t seem to have manners, but then again, neither do so many adults! I left the mall yesterday and held the door open for a woman behind me. She looked right at me, took the door, and kept going. Not a peep. (She could speak, I’d heard her earlier LOL) Adults have to model manners.
My youngest was one of those who would have a tantrum in the store, but with his autism, it was unavoidable. We learned later the lights hurt his ears, as they emit a low hum. (Who knew? Things we didn’t realize, he could hear like they were a freight train.) We had to take him out to teach him, but in very small doses since we didn’t want him to think that behavior was okay. No one wants to be shopping around kids milling all over while mom chats on her cell, I see it all the time. Great post!
I agree there are so many children out there who don’t know even the basics: please, thank you, or your welcome. I always try my best to model the behavior for my own children because they need to see me doing it as well. Thank you for sharing Dee.
What an interesting article and even though I live in a little place in Europe called Denmark I can recognize the problems with children today. I think it is important children learns to say thank you and not to interrupt when they are old enough to practise it. I have 4 children and my youngest is 5 years old now. I started to practise my children the first manners when they were 3-4 years old and my eldest are a teenager now and she is a very polite and kind person.
Thank you for sharing your experience, we started when my youngest was little. At the age of two, he knows how to say please, thank you, and your welcome. 🙂
Manners are HUGE! Instilling good manners in a child is a great way to teach respect, kindness, and so much more. Great tips!
Yes, manners are huge in my house as well. We have always taught my youngest how to use his manners at an early age and it is amazing how quickly they learn. He knows how to say please, thank you, and your welcome. We model the behaviors that we want him to follow.
Amen, I’m a huge fan of manners although it’s not always the easiest thing to teach our kiddos. My 2 & 4 year old are quite polite although they both have a hard time with interrupting. I love the idea of the physical acknowledgement to remind them stop and wait! Thanks so much for sharing these! 🙂
Your welcome, I am glad that you found them helpful. 🙂
Today the reason why many kids go wayward or get dragged into the unwanted groups is because of parents not taking proper care of them. Being a parent, it becomes our responsibility to look after our kids, of course teach them good manners to respect others and be good to others. If done from the right age, the kids will feel wanted more. But of course small kids don’t have stable mind or don’t easily follow what we expect them to. Hence I believe blending such teachings with fun would actually reap greater benefits in the long run.