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Good Manner Manual: Back To Basics

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Contributed by: Dianne Perea on 8/4/2007

Well, it's just about back to school time and the school supplies isles of Walmart and Target, once neat and tidy, now look as if hurricane force winds have blown through them. While backpacks, gluesticks, crayons, erasers and rulers fly off the shelves, there is one item that I know is missing from everyone's list: A Manners Manual. The reason I say this is that I have witnessed enough bellyaching kids and their beleaguered parents to see that it's time for a refresher in some good, old fashioned manners. So, here it is, my " Back To Basics - Everything Everyone Should Know About Good Manners Manual" just in time for school...and you don't even have to go to Walmart to get it.

Say "please" as often as possible.
Say "thank you" as often as possible.
Say "excuse me" when appropriate.
Say "Ma'am or Sir" if you don't know an adult's name.
When requesting something, say "May I please have?" rather than "I want!"
Ask how you can help in any situation.
Respect your teachers as you do your parents...they deserve and need it.
When someone else is talking, listen.
Do not interrupt.
Do not whine.
If asked to someone's home, understand that the rules of their home are not the rules of yours, meaning don't touch or play with things without asking first.
Clean up every single mess you make at someone's home before you leave.
Sit still at the dinner table, yours at home or at a public restaurant's.
Ask for permission to leave the dinner table.
When finished with dinner at home, take your plate to the kitchen.
Offer to help clear the dinner table, at home or at someone else's.
When given a gift, give the person who gave it to you a big hug right after you open it...meaning, don't start playing with the toy right away.
Write thank you notes to people who do nice things for you.
Look people in the eye when they are speaking to you or when you are speaking to them.
When an adult tells you no to a request you've made of them, politely accept their answer.
Do not yell when you are outside...there are other people outside besides you.
Give hugs for no reason.
Brush your teeth without being asked.
If you have chores, do them. If you don't, at least clean up your room every night.
Do not point at people or talk about other people in public.
Don't talk unkindly about people in public or private, it's just not nice.
Do not yell and run around in the stores...it makes other shoppers insane.
After you have just met someone, say "It was nice to meet you."
When offered food at someone's home, say "thank you" or "no thanks" instead of "I hate that."
Smile back when someone smiles at you.
Share.
Give.
Be patient with others, especially with kids smaller than you.
And finally, what sums all this up, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I've told my own kids that if they do nothing else but focus on their manners, it will take them far in life. However, I follow that up with, "But we all do these things just because they are the right things to do."

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Submitted By: Stephanie Johnson

posted on 8/29/2007 @ 9:37:03 AM

Rated Story

I wish more people were like you! I teach my kids these additional "rules": "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." My husband has befriended kids in our neighborhood with the eventual hope of teaching them manners as well, because no one at their own house is doing it! What a shame what is happening to our children these days, and the parents are largely to blame! Great article!

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CONTRIBUTOR INFO

Dianne Perea

Colorado Springs , CO

Dianne Perea has posted 124 stories and 4 comments since joining on 6/26/2007. Dianne Perea 's average story rating is 4.9.

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