Listen Up The Kids Are Talking

We are continuing our series on Showing Respect to Kids.  The last post was on kids loving to talk.

Kids want their parents to show them courtesy and respect by saying  "thank you" when they do something nice for you and "please" if you want something from them.  In teaching 2-3-4 year old, parents are very discipline in teaching the toddlers to say "thank you" and "please".  It is an important lesson to be taught and an important lesson to be learned.  However, that all seems to drop somewhere in grade school.  Parents are saying "do it because I am your parent and I say so" - not many "will you please do this for me".  The "thank you" seems to disappear as well.  Members of a family think things should be done for them without saying "thank you" if someone does something nice for them.

So parents throw your kids a curve by saying "thank you" and "please" when they deserve it....it may confuse them and wouldn't that be fun?  Being nice to each other in a family is just another way of showing respect.

Our next post will be on disciplining your kid - believe it or not sometimes kids sees this as a sign of respect.

Comments

[Connie Ragen Green]

This is a great post. I used to teach 5th and 6th graders in inner city Los Angeles. I never demanded their respect - I had to earn it. These children had never been shown respect by an adult so it took some time for them to understand it. Once they did it changed their outlook on life.