Holiday Manners

Do your kids know about kindness and respect? How did they act at the Thanksgiving dinner table?

beautiful table, wonderful kids??

If your children sat at the table for the entire dinner, interacted politely with those around them, remembered to say Please and Thank You, and Smiled :) - Congratulations! You must have been doing something right for years!! If that did not look like your table - All of these things can be taught with you as the model. Practice now for a new look for the holiday tables:

     1. Have your kids stay at the table every night until everyone is done with dinner...it's only polite!!  And then, have them ask to be excused. No...really!! It works - the boys' grandfather is still impressed, 25 years later, that they said, "May we please be excused?" from a long ago holiday dinner.

with Gramma and Grandad Gallimore workin' on manners

     2. Kids need to practice talking to adults, being kind and respectful. Being able to talk to you on a daily basis shows how they will interact with others. Be kind in the family also.

   3. Please and Thank You are SOOOO important!! It is so easy to teach at home if you are constantly modeling what you want and never relaxing your expectations. Kids do what you show them they have to do! Always say please to them (not asking as if it's a request, but just being kind) and always expect a thank you in return. Always say thank you to them. If you hand your kids something keep your hand on it until they 'remember' to thank you. Eventually a look from you will remind them of their required manners. Please help your children to find their manners :)

Practicing manners with Gramma and Grampa Finkbeiner starts early!!

   4. Smiling can be taught!!! Try it...we told our kids that fake smiles were better than real frowns. Besides, your brain reads those smile muscles as happiness - it actually makes you feel better if you smile. HONEST!! Give it a shot!

Torch Lake kids being happy!!

If you concentrate on these few ideas for the next month, your future holiday dinners could be a breeze, and your children could learn valuable lessons for their future.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes:)

Happy Parenting!

D and C