Mom's Editorial

As parents we all have seen those rowdy kids at the shopping mall or any public place for that matter and thought to ourselves “I would never let my child behave that way’. Am I right? Wee if not all, majority of us have had this feeling. But it’s only until we have been in those parents’ shoes that we truly know whether or not it is in our hands to mould a child to behave properly or not.

Well, the bad news is that kids do have their own temperament and you can’t really say for sure if they will always behave according to your expectations. And for the good news, to a certain extent, their behavior can certainly be altered. Well, at least, we can say that they won’t always be ill-mannered, that’s for sure.

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So if you want to teach your little ones to mind their manners, especially at public places, continue reading…

Be polite yourself

With kids the saying ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ couldn’t be more apt. These young tots are at such an age where they learn from anything and everything that happens around them.
If you are a family of loud people, there is a great chance that your baby will follow suit. It is unrealistic on your part to expect your child to behave in an orderly fashion if he has no example to follow at home. You, as parents, become role models for children from a very young age.

If you practice good manners, polite talking behavior… you can expect your child to do the same as well. Remember that the kids mirror the habits they most come across from their family members first.

Don’t ignore a child’s self-respect

Believe it or not, but consciously or sub-consciously, most kids do not appreciate being reprimanded in public or in front of anyone. This is what I learned from my mother-in-law.
If you must then take your child to a room where there’s no one and you can scold him for being ill-mannered. The more you scold him in front of others, the more stubborn your child becomes.

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Not only should you give due respect to his image but it also helps build a confidence in your kid to face the others.

Correcting your child’s behavior angrily only worsens it

This is something that most of us often overlook. We think that if we reprimand the child angrily, that will make him fear us. We hope that he wouldn’t behave in a certain manner but to our surprise, the kid only starts misbehaving all the more.

So you want to try and sit the child down and politely tell him what he or she did wrong that wasn’t acceptable. If your kid is too young to understand then just point at the thing he (maybe) broke or take him to the side if he misbehaved. If you keep at the practice, rest assured your child will know why he is being cornered by the parents overtime.

Important to acknowledge the child too

If you think that correcting bad behavior will lead your child into becoming a better person, then acknowledging his good deeds is also as important. Not only that, you must, at all times, try to include your kid in you conversations and activities.

This teaches them about social behavior which is appropriate in different settings. Not only that, when you include your kid in conversations with other kids around too, you are directly teaching them about the tone of voice, respect for others around, personal space etc… Believe it or not, if you start this practice very young, your child is more likely to have it ingrained in the back of his mind.

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Intentionally or unintentionally, it is the little things we, as parents, do at home and outside that teach kids to behave in an orderly manner. So you know what you have to do!

How did you teach your little one about good manners? What helped and what did not? Let us know.