Every parent dreams of their children growing up having polite manners, and knowing when to say “please, thank you, you’re welcome” as well as responding and obeying simple requests gracefully (for the most part) . Yet, kids are kids, and they don’t just magically become of aware of being polite and using manners in their day-to-day. It’s something that needs to be encouraged and instilled into them.
The other day my toddler son came home from school and said something that we do not say in our house. It was so strange, because in general he is very respectful and has the most lovely manners, if I do say so myself. But he heard a phrase that was said by another older kid at school and he said it to me without realizing the weight of his words. We then had to chat about good and bad words, and go over manners in general.
This reminded me that not only do our children learn and model behavior from us, but they learn it from their peers at school too. Therefore, as parents we need to keep on reiterating the importance of good manners and etiquette, so that they grow up learning it to be their norm.
How to encourage good manners
1. Expect respect – As parents we need to always set the tone as to what is appropriate behaviour, especially when it comes to how children show respect for their elders. Often modern parents let their children get away with saying and doing some pretty cheeky things, not only to them the parents, but to others as well. Therefore, teach your kids to show and have respect towards you, and vice versa.
2. Teach polite sayings from an early age – As soon as your little ones start putting phrases together, you need to start encouraging basic politeness like: “please, thank you, excuse me, you’re welcome, may I have” and so on. These are basic polite sayings and phrases for little ones to master, and should totally be the norm.
3. Model good manners – As parents we are the first point of reference when it comes to how our children should behave, as they model our behavior. We can’t expect them to have amazing manners themselves, whilst we behave poorly.
4. Coreect politely – When your child is still learning to master the art of good manners, it’s important to encourage and correct them lovingly. After all you are encouraging them to be polite, therefore, correct them politely and encourage them to master their manners.
5. Encourage and acknowledge good manners – Whenever my toddler son remembers to use his manners naturally, I almost immediately praise him and commend him for using excellent manners. Which in turn encourages him that his manners are well received, and noted, and it encourages him to keep on speaking and behaving with respect.
Remember:
The important thing to note is that at any point we can encourage good polite manners. No child is too young or too old to learn how to behave in a respectful way. Therefore, it’s never too late to hop onto the polite manners train moms and dads!