Emily Post would be so proud of Benjamin. Nathan and I firmly believe that children need to always be polite and respectful so when he was just mere months old we started teaching him those two crucial words: Please and Thank you (I guess that's actually three words.)
It started (and continues) with modeling. His smiles would elicit an excited "Thank you!" from us beaming parents. We would kindly (or sometimes through gritted teeth) ask him if he would please stop crying so we could all get some sleep. When he would sign for some cheerios, I would say to him, "Cereal please?" After I gave it to him, I'd say "Thank you, Mommy." Pretty soon he was signing the words back and a short while later actually saying them when prompted.
However, now we don't even have to prompt him (most of the time). When he asks for something he tacks on "Pease." He responds with a sweet "Thank-oo". It melts my heart when I do something for him, such as cover him up with his blankie at bedtime and he looks up at me and say's "Thank-oo, Mommy." I wasn't expecting or asking him for those words. Instead, he deemed it appropriate to express his gratitude on his own.
It doesn't just stop at "please" and "thank you" either. If you sneeze, he'll promptly say "Bess-oo." He will be concerned if he notices an "owwie" on any part of your body. He now adds "Yur-wecome" to his "Thank-oo" because he hasn't quite figured out the proper way of exchanging these social terms. And my most favorite polite expression/action of all is when he is leaving a family function and he willingly hugs and/or kisses each family member goodbye.
Yep, we must be doing something right indeed.
It started (and continues) with modeling. His smiles would elicit an excited "Thank you!" from us beaming parents. We would kindly (or sometimes through gritted teeth) ask him if he would please stop crying so we could all get some sleep. When he would sign for some cheerios, I would say to him, "Cereal please?" After I gave it to him, I'd say "Thank you, Mommy." Pretty soon he was signing the words back and a short while later actually saying them when prompted.
However, now we don't even have to prompt him (most of the time). When he asks for something he tacks on "Pease." He responds with a sweet "Thank-oo". It melts my heart when I do something for him, such as cover him up with his blankie at bedtime and he looks up at me and say's "Thank-oo, Mommy." I wasn't expecting or asking him for those words. Instead, he deemed it appropriate to express his gratitude on his own.
It doesn't just stop at "please" and "thank you" either. If you sneeze, he'll promptly say "Bess-oo." He will be concerned if he notices an "owwie" on any part of your body. He now adds "Yur-wecome" to his "Thank-oo" because he hasn't quite figured out the proper way of exchanging these social terms. And my most favorite polite expression/action of all is when he is leaving a family function and he willingly hugs and/or kisses each family member goodbye.
Yep, we must be doing something right indeed.
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