Manners Do Matter
I’m a fan of Leonard Pitts. While I am not as liberal as he is, I think he is often dead-on in his editorials. In his editorial published January 23, he points out, rightfully, that “too many of us have forgotten a basic rule of what used to be called home training.”
I am in complete agreement with Leonard. “There are some things you just don’t say to or about another human being in a public forum.”
I call it good old fashioned, as it may be, manners.
Maybe because we are typing, texting, or Facebooking we forget it is human beings, like ourselves, who read what we write. We are human people – all, who have feelings and who need compassion and yes, grace.
Are you “home training” your children to be kind?
How often have you shown your child how to make an apology face-to-face, not Facebook-to-Facebook?
Do you apologize when you lose your temper or let a wrong word slip out?
Have your kids seen you model humility and kindness?
If not they aren’t likely to know how. Not in this world of screen-to-screen communicators.
I have a refrigerator magnet with a quote by Henry James. It says, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to b kind; and the third is to be kind.”
Links every parent should read: Manners Every Kid Should Know
Preschoolers Inappropriate Comments
Good Old Fashioned Manners Facebook Page
Gail Cawley Showalter 