Monday, May 05, 2008

Teaching manners


I’ve been trying to teach (brainwash) my kids to be polite. Its probably pretty annoying to them. I’m constantly reminding them to say “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me” when the situation arises. I typically prompt them by asking “what do you say?” and then waiting for them to make the appropriate response. But after this weekend, I believe that I may need to rethink my methods.

On Saturday afternoon, I was playing in the living room with Bryn when she very audibly passed gas. She smiled at me, thinking it was funny. I sternly looked back at her and asked, “What do you say?”

“Thank you!” was her sweet, pixie-voiced response, not missing a beat.

My sister and brother-in-law burst into laughter.

Later that evening, as we were finishing up dinner, we retold the incident to daddy. Thinking it was time to again quiz Bryn, my brother-in-law asked her, “what do you say when you toot?”

Bryn’s classic response was “I say ‘pffffffffft’” (as she made the sound of air escaping)

She may not be polite, but at least she’s good for a laugh.

10 comments:

tiburon said...

That is too funny! Love it!

Jori said...

Heehee that is so funny! At least you try to teach your kids manners. My dad would rip one and say "there's a little treat for you" Nice.

Oceanchild said...

haha. I'm laughing out loud. Kids are kind of the worst when it comes to trying to brainwash (or beat) something into them. When Landon hits we say "say your sorry and give loves) and he usually just turns and hits the parent. Then he marches up to his room and slams the door. The teens are going to be interesting.

Ruhiyyih Rose said...

LOL!! That is hilarious! Oh my. Kiddos... :)

The race I did was the Cherry Blossom Ten - Miler. Even better is the Marine Corps Marathon, takes place every October, covers all of the sites of DC! :)

Mindi said...

my mom didn't like us to "discuss" gas in any way shape or form, so as an adult i am trying to be responsible. but, boyohboy is it hard when they do something like that!!!
i'd say her response was just right.....

carrie said...

What a cute girl. Don't you just love trying to teach them to be polite?? I'm telling you....it's a struggle. Matthew was easy. My other kids are a different story. YIKES :o) It's ALWAYS funny when it's someone else's child though, huh??

Chelsea said...

That is so funny! Thanks for the laugh. :D

Omgirl said...

You gotta love it when your brainwashing efforts go awry. Daphne has gotten it into her head to say "sorry" instead of excuse me when she burps or toots. So now she's always apologizing for it like I punish her or something. It's embarrassing in public.

Lindsay said...

Hillarious! And coming from a girl!

Lynita said...

That is so classsic! I love what kids say! Tonight after FHE Ryan was playing with the kids and fake crying when they played too rough. Our FHE was about how Jesus suffered and understands all of our pain. So to help reiterate the point I told Kaitlyn to tell daddy that it is okay because Jesus could help him fell better. Well Ethan decided to help drive the point home and started yelling at dad... "Daddy...Jesus...Daddy...Jesus!" Well as you can see it just sounded like he was chewing him out and taking the Lord's name in vein. So yes a lot of times these little "teaching moments" backfire!