Saturday, March 13, 2010

Manners...are they no more?

Casey, my husband, had to work today, so, I got some courage and took all three kids with me to Meijers. Remarkably, it went extremely well! They were very well mannered and actually listened to me the entire time! My youngest has this way around the elderly, they all comment on her 'cuteness' which just tickles me. I did get a compliment today in checkout that made my day and reaffirmed that I must be doing something right with my parenting. A couple in their 50's were behind us in line. The male said "excuse me, I just wanted to let you know that your little girls are just adorable." I thanked him and he went on to say " it is nice to see that some children are still being raised with manners." I thanked him and beamed at my kids.

It made me ponder on the way home, why is it so remarkable for people to see children behave in public? I noticed at Meijer that there were so many little kids just running willy nilly throughout the aisles and parents not saying a word. I saw one little girl actually slap her mother when Mom grabbed her hand and told her "No, you can't climb onto the shelf." Mom let go of the girl and let her climb up the shelf to get her own fruit snacks.

I was raised that children are a reflection of their parents in most cases. There are exceptions, my oldest was on the autism spectrum and I know all about meltdowns that make others look at you like you are a bad parent or that you are beating your child, but, for the most part, there is no reason for your child NOT to have manners. My kids know to say excuse me, please and thank you. They know there is some sort of expectation of them to act civilly or there will be consequences. I am just amazed that things have changed so much from my own upbringing, maybe I am just a dinosaur for a mom...

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