MOMMY Welcome & Entry #1: When did good manners become an issue of morals?
Greetings to everyone! Thanks so much for visiting our new and improved site. Wow, what a labor of love this project has been. But, alas, we can focus on the fun stuff… getting all our ideas into production and online for all you hardcore shoppers. And, do what we haven’t been able to do before — share our deep and quite possibly not so deep musings from Mommy- and Grammy-land.
This blog will be a little different than Grammy’s, though. While Grammy’s blog will be straight from the heart of our #1 Grammy, Mommy’s blog will have guest Mommies to create conversation, offer ideas and suggestions, and just plain-old vent. Basically, I’ve got two kids to raise, two small businesses to run, a husband to cater to (yeah, right!) and many more brilliant and creative Mommy friends who want to talk. Grammy on the other hand has it covered… she is a published author, you know! Plus, she has her many years of experience and insight to share so you’ll all want to check in with her as well.
So, here goes my first entry. Please respond with your thoughts, concerns, comments, etc. And, if you want to post a discussion or just some dazzling insight, drop me an email and you can write the next piece!
Entry #1: When did good manners become an issue of morals?
The other day while working in my son’s kindergarten class, I leaned down to discuss this adorable child’s inability to follow directions (in my most high-pitched and sweet mommy voice – of course!) and the child turned straight to my face and said “blah, blah, blah” – while I spoke!
Well, after my eyes popped out of my head I responded by saying (in a not-so-sweet Mommy voice) that he was behaving rudely and was very disrespectful. Seeming a bit surprised that an adult actually reprimanded him (I’m guessing that doesn’t happen much at home), he whispered a semi-apology and went back to work.
As soon as I saw an opportunity, I approached the teacher (who I actually really like) about how to handle manners in the classroom. I was told that she doesn’t require the children to say “please” and “thank you.” She believes it is a “personal thing that is taught in the home” and that it is “really a moral issue.” However, she certainly doesn’t allow anyone to be “disrespectful to others.”
Now, having been at Catholic school the year before (I’m still losing debates on the Big Bang theory and Evolution with my five-year old) I was stunned at her response. There the kids couldn’t get a word in edgewise without proper manners. Not only was it appropriate but it was part of the curriculum.
Am I crazy? Since when is it a moral issue to require a kid to say please and thank-you? I don’t want to draw a line between private and public (we are in public school now) but is this really such a private decision? Are we simply asking too much of our public schools to take on these types of issues? Shouldn’t we all as members of society be taught how to behave in a polite manner? I’m in such a fuss about this that I think it might result in my children attending cotillion just to be sure nothing is missed… thoughts?
