I don't mean to be rude, but my kids are more polite than yours...

There are two things that will get you far in this life…talent and good manners. But it seems that as more and more parents are teaching their kids, either through example or with words, that they are somehow entitled to whatever they please, children with good manners are going the way of the white buffalo.

In other words, they don’t exist.

However yesterday my sister-in-law told Andrew and I, in front of her boyfriend that, M has “the best manners of any kid” she’s ever met. There isn’t much that could make me more proud, as a mother. Yes, Andrew and I tend to lean towards “old-fashioned” values; “The Golden Rule” is about as basic as it can get when teaching a child how to behave in this big, rude world.
You know…MY way…
But beyond that, we are teaching our kids to address adults as “Ma’am” and “Sir,” to say “please,” “thank you” and “your welcome,” and neither of them may get up from or leave the table before saying, “May I please be excused.” No, they aren’t little “Stepford Kids,”

They occasionally have to be reminded to mind their manners, and the learning process has not gone without a tantrum here and there. They are kids, after all!

But I, myself, had to laugh when we were visiting my friend Sunny and her beautiful daughters the other day. As we all remember from our own childhood, other kid’s toys are always infinitely more fun than your own, so M and V were having a blast…not only did they have 2 new little friends (Sunny’s third daughter was at school), but they also had a whole ocean of new toys to discover! M disappeared into the basement and reappeared with a Star Wars Mr. Potato Head set.

He quickly built a Darth Tater, an Imperial Tater Trooper and an R2D2. As Sunny and I sat talking, M sat quietly at our feet playing.

He was making the Potato Heads talk to each other, and I really wasn’t paying attention to him until I heard…

“Excuse me Mr. Imperial Storm Trooper, could you please not touch my face?”

It was Darth Tater speaking, and he was SOOOOO polite! If only Darth Vader had used such fine manners. A little kindness goes a long way.

Kindness...try it...I think you'll like it! Maybe that whole Death Star plan woulda worked out, after all, if only Lord Vader had asked nicely. That whole "death grip" thing is a bitch.