Everyday, my son gets on the bus with the little girl from next door. They're in the same class and they ride the same bus, so they know each other pretty well. Well the weather the other day was expected to be rainy, so this little girl was carrying her Princess umbrella to school with her. The bus pulls up, we all say our goodbyes and give hugs and kisses, then Caleb did something I never expected him to do. He held this girls hand as they crossed the road, then held her umbrella for her while she got on the bus. It was the cutest thing and this girl's grandmother was beside herself. She was so beside herself that she texted the girl's mom to tell her what happened right then and there. They both thought it was the cutest thing ever.
Then it occured to me, there was a period of time when that wouldn't have been cute, it would have been expected. What has the world come to that when a young child has manners it's surprising? So I put together a list of manners that every child should know, and that every parent should make an effort to teach.
1). Please and Thank you. If they ask for anything from anyone, it should be accompanied with please. If anything from anyone is given to them, it should be acccompanied with thank you. These are also used in conjunction with "yes" and "no" to be polite. Such as "Yes, please." and "No thank you." These terms should be used with everyone from strangers to family members.
2) Opening and holding the door for someone else. Obviously this one is difficult to teach from a young age. It's not like you can tell your six month-old to go hold the door, but you can teach them by doing it yourself until they're old enough and strong enough.
3) Table manners. Parents can begin to teach children this as soon as they start getting real food. Use your fork and spoon, and use them properly. Don't talk with your mouth full. Chew with your mouth closed. Before leaving the table, ask permission to be excused.
4) Say "excuse me." This has multiple meanings. After passing gas, if you bump into someone, or if you need an adults attention.
5) No swearing. I can't think of something that bothers me more than hearing little kids swear like they're adults. I recently heard the saying, "If the child swears, slap the parent." Where do you think the child heard it in the first place? If you do swear in front of your child, apologize to them for it and tell them it was very impolite of you to say that. Which brings me to my final point...
All of these manners can be taught by being a good example to your child. Do you think your child will say please if you don't? Or thank you? Do you think they'll swear if you swear? Parents need to be careful of what we teach our children. This list I gave you is very condensed, and it certainly doesn't include everything. I found a "comprehensive" list online, to which I'll include the link, but I find even that one to be lacking a few.
Times have changed, but that doesn't mean that manners should.
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/25-manners-every-kid-should-know-by-age-9-2480238
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