When my oldest daughter was 3 I figured it was good to teach her to say thank you. I hadn't, however, taught her to say please yet. After all, she was only 3. So one day I had some ladies over from the neighborhood. They were all stay-at-home mom's with young children. My 3 year old came over and interrupted my conversation (with a certain "proper" mother) and asked for something without saying please. I was so worried that I would look like I was lacking in my parenting skills that I said, "Honey, what is the magic word?" An expression that I had never particularly liked. Why on earth was I saying this to her? She looked at me puzzled (of course) and for 4 - 5 painful seconds I wondered how she would answer such a ridiculous question. She looked at me so serious and finally answered in a questioning voice, "Abracadabra?" I laughed, gave her what she asked for and made sure I taught her to say please later that night. I said, "Honey, it's proper to say please when you ask for something."
She asked, "Please may I have a pony?"
I said, "No."
She said, "Please don't work."
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4 comments:
How cute! Love that story! Obviously whatever you taught your kids worked since they turned out :)
Years ago I had a little foster son who came from a background where he was the youngest boy of 7 older brothers so needless to say, he learned alot of social skills from being pushed and bossed around himself. During play he would often say, "Get out of my way" or "Give it to me before I punch your face in." I was telling him that if he talked more nicely, people would respond in kind. I tried teaching him to say, "Excuse me." Shortly afterward, I heard him say, "Get out the way" to another child. I gave him a prompt of "Nicely..." and he said through gritted teeth, "Get out the way Nicely!!!" I had to turn my head and laugh.
Peace,
:)De
Thank you Robin :)
Great story :)De Did he ever learn to say things nicely? You are so good to take on foster children - it's truly God's work and not for the faint-hearted.
Peace.
That little guy ended up being one of my favorites. He was moved to another family that had some of his brothers as the agency wanted to keep them together as much as possible. I still get to keep him on weekends and occasions. And yes... he learned to say all of the magic words.
Peace,
:)De
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