Showing respect using please and thank you

The most basic form of showing respect is to use “please” and “thank you”. As parents it’s our job to teach our children to say “please” and “thank you”. I’ve seen a number of incidents where parents say thank you for their children but don’t actually teach their children to say it. For example, when parents pick their children up from a play date, they might thank the host while the child does not.

When parents say thank you for their children, it sends the wrong message to the kids. Children who do not learn to show these basic courtesies are often disrespectful in a number of other ways.

For example, one of my son’s friends was very disrespectful to his mom the first time he came over to our house. In front of her he announced she was stupid because she didn’t speak English very well. He was the same boy who neglected to thank me for driving him home after playing at our house. I explained to him that I would be happy to provide a ride as long as I was thanked. He chose not to say thank you more than once and so he no longer has a ride here to play.

Parents, please teach your children this basic courtesy. Thank you!