Teaching Your Child Better Manners
When you witness your child being rude or using poor manners, it certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Is there a way to quickly turn the situation around and ensure that they will not behave that way in the future? Yes, you may need to correct the child from time to time later down the road, but you can control the behavior and explain to the child why it is so important to not act that way.
Bad manners is just something children will go through here and there and most of the time it is a learning experience. For example, if a child is three or four and they tell someone they do not like their outfit or that they do not like their shoes it is out of honesty, but the child does not yet know how to handle the situation without coming off too strong. You do not want to encourage your children to be untruthful or to keep their feelings inside, but you have to teach them how to handle certain feelings without hurting others in the process. Teach the child if they do not like someone or something, that they simply avoid it and do not declare those feelings in a rude manner. Allow the child to feel that way, but to not say anything at all if they cannot say anything nice. They should always learn to give new things and new people that enter their lives a try without passing judgment.
If your child is rude in public or to a family member you have to nip in the bud right when it occurs. Perhaps your child has received a gift from a friend or family member that they do not like and they decide to express those feelings in front of the gift giver. This can be very hurtful to the person on the other end, and the child needs to learn to accept things that they may not like or want with kindness and by always saying thank you. Do not allow your child to speak to their friends in a rude way either. How they treat their peers may be a sign of how they will behave as adults and the last thing you want is for your child to become a rude adult. Teach them to treat others just as they would like to be treated and not to ever pick on other children as that can be very damaging to their lives.
All children learn how to interact with others by what examples you set for them. This means if you are using bad or poor manners on a daily basis in front of your children, then they too will result in acting that way. You cannot expect your child to only mimic your behavior when they are older as they will begin to do it simply by being around you all day. Teach them the importance of saying please and thank you and to always think of the other person before they say something they may regret later.
