manners are for children

What I mean by "manners are for children," is that they should be learned at a young age. My parents harped on my manners when I was little, to the point that sometimes I wanted to be rude, just to see the shock on their faces. Now though, I am proud of myself when someone compliments them. It's much easier to teach kids habits like these when they're little.

Today I was babysitting my favorite little kids, Charlie (3) and Lauren (17 months). As we were cleaning up the basement, the show "Olivia" came on the television in the background and we sat to watch. I was amazed at the subject matter! Normally kids shows are about sharing and playing nice but today, Olivia was agonizing over table manners. Her younger brother was messy at the table and her friend Francine apparently comes from a background where that's not allowed. Francine also "never eats the same thing twice in one year" and brought her lunch to school in a bento box. Olivia is intrigued and Francine invites her over for dinner one night.

As Olivia gets excited to dine in a more civilized place than her home, her mother reminds her to "Be polite, and return the information." As Olivia imagines a fancy girl like Francine eating at the dinner table where her brother slurps spaghetti, she pictures her family as cave people who eat off of rocks. Needless to say, in Olivia's imagination, Francine runs away screaming.

Once Olivia arrives at Francine's house she discovers there are a lot of rules that are not necessarily kid friendly. Such as, "No yelling, No footprints in the house, No fresh flowers in the house (the petals make a mess), No laughing at the dinner table and most significantly, No spilling!" Unfortunately, Olivia drops a Brussels sprout and she and Francine are sent to sit in a corner of the room at a "kiddie table"

Moral of the Story: Manners are a terrific thing to have and you don't need to be "fancy," or "special," to display them. It was very thoughtful of Olivia to bring flowers to Francine's mother in thanks for the invite, and it was polite to invite Francine to come for dinner at her house too.

Some basic manners from this 20 minute TV show were not even present among the 16-18 year old girls who were at my house for my sister's pasta party on Wednesday. They were supposed to bring drinks or dessert, my mom did all the cooking (for 17 kids). When dinner was over, there was one box of cookies for dessert because as my mom so eloquently said, "Some of them just came in swinging their arms." It is polite to bring SOMETHING to a person's house when they are doing something for you, whether it's a meal, a sleepover, or just a swim in the pool. You should never show up empty handed. In an older setting these are considered hostess gifts, but for younger children, they are thank you gifts.