Manners

My kids are silly, loud, and can be absolute monsters.  I accept this.  They are great kids, but like most children, they can be also be little nightmares.  Such is life.

One thing we have always stressed with them is the importance of good manners.  There is no option there.  I may be a "pick your battles" kind of mom, but if you're my kid, I better hear "please" and "thank you" come out of your mouth.

Fortunately for them, my kids do pretty well with this, even without reminders.  Today, I took them out to lunch, and listened to them order their drinks and meals (something else we've always stressed; they need to learn to speak up for themselves!), with the appropriate "May I please have..." requests.  When their food came, the shift manager (who brought the food out) heard a cheerful round of "thank you!" as he set down their plates.  I was satisfied to hear them use the manners we've reinforced since they could talk (or even before then, since Alex learned to sign before he could speak; you can bet he could sign "please" and "thank you"!).

After the bill was paid, and our server dropped off my receipt, she hesitated long enough to compliment the kids.  She commented on how well behaved they were, and mentioned their nice manners, and told them that even her manager came to tell her that he also noticed those things.

The kids beamed.  I beamed.  It was a nice moment.

Of course, shortly after that, Alex threw a big wad of cheese on the floor of the grocery store and refused to pick it up, which resulted in a stand off.  We won't talk about that, though.  I'm still enjoying the brief moment where someone saw how well behaved the kids can be.  I'm allowed to do that.