As a parent, you have a lot of different things to focus on, from making sure they eat right, to ensuring they brush their teeth, get enough exercise, and have proper morals and values. Among these values include having good manners. Teaching your children good manners starts young, so here are some tips to start now.
Start Teaching Them at a Young Age
Your children are never too young to start learning good manners, but it is also not too late. If your teens rarely say Please or Thank You, start teaching them now! It is not too late for them to have great manners that other people notice. With the younger kids, keep instructing them for every action. If your toddler asks for a toy, remind him to say “Please” before you will give it to him. If you have two younger children who are playing, and one pushes the other, teach them the importance of apologizing and saying “Sorry”.
Make Sure Everyone Teaches the Same Thing
It is important that all adults in your children’s life teach the same good manners. This includes your spouse, the babysitter, older teens in the house, and anyone else they spend a good amount of time with. If they go to grandma’s house every Saturday, tell your mom that you are teaching manners and ask that she follow the same instructions. Your kids will learn proper manners very quickly.
Show Them You Have Good Manners
You have probably heard your young child repeat everything you say; this shows you that they are paying attention to what you do. By always having good manners yourself, they will start mimicking what you do. Say Please and Thank You, open doors for other people, and stand aside when someone is in a hurry and trying to get past you. Let someone with fewer groceries get in line in front of you, and give up your bus seat to an elderly person or pregnant woman who is in more need of the seat.
Keep Reminding Them When They Make a Mistake
Your kids might not get it right away, and that’s okay! Just keep reminding them. If your pre-teen has a door held for her and she doesn’t say anything, remind her to say Thank You to the person who held the door for her. This will eventually get it in their heads that manners are important.
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