Basic Training
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
The words we yearn for before baby learns to speak – only to be met with ‘Dada’, ‘No’ or ‘I want’ when the time comes.
Not a ‘Please’ to be heard.
You are not alone in facing the manners void, but luckily we can fix this with a bit of basic training and the classic printed word.
SavvyMom’s favourite author on the all-important topic of manners is Munro Leaf – a best-selling children’s author since 1936 with charmingly illustrated titles such as Manners Can be Fun, How to Speak Politely and our all-time fave for kids and adults alike, How to Behave and Why.
Munro wrote these books at a time when kids were kids, parents were parents and manners were, well, manners.
How to Behave and Why delivers a valuable message: ‘No matter where you are or who you are, there are four main things you have to do if you want to make good friends and keep them. Be Honest, Strong, Fair and Wise’. These values can be difficult to define when speaking to children (and adults for that matter) but Munro Leaf manages to do so beautifully. We’re here to tell you that manners do not have to be learned through nagging – these books are actually fun to read.
Manners Can Be Fun features such personalities as The Pigs, The Whineys, The Snoopers and Smash, Rip and Ruin. Most moms have met them far too many times. But since this book helps them absorb the elementary rules of thoughtfulness and etiquette (listen, cooperate, share – music to moms’ ears, to be sure), you may just be able to banish these awful characters from your home.
In today’s ‘Talk to the Hand’ society, these books are as important as they were 70 years ago.
So why not buy a bunch and distribute them as gifts.
Society won’t thank you, but your kids might.
Available online at Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca