Dear Good Manners Devotee':
Whew! It has been a busy time at the Good Manners House, as I am sure it has been at your house if you have children who are getting out of school.
Our school ends late here -- the 23rd of June! All the other schools around us ended one, two -- even three weeks ago. My niece and nephew live in Louisiana and they've been out since Memorial Day.
Needless to say, the Good Manners Daughters are chomping at the bit, very eager to start summer vacation.
During this wild time, we took the opportunity to show off our newly-cleaned out house (mentioned in my last post) by having a party last weekend. I have one general good manners comment to make for the benefit of party givers everywhere: when someone invites you to a party, please RSVP. It lets the host and hostess know how much food and drinks to purchase and prepare.
That being said, all of our Good Manners guests DID RSVP (41 adults and 16 children). Well, all except for one couple and child (making the total 43 and 17 respectively), who we sort of expected because another person told us (when RSVPing) that she had talked to the mom about the party. But she did not RSVP for that family. It's a technicality, but it still sort of seems a tiny, little, microscopic bit inconsiderate to me.
While all of this has been going on, I have been working on the designs for the new plates and bowls we are hoping to add to the Good Manners Kids Stuff site this summer. And I've also been reviewing proofs for my new book on good sportsmanship that will be available this summer, too. If you'd like to read some insider scoop on self-publishing, check out www.goodmannerskidsstuffpress.blogspot.com when you have a moment.
Until I blog again with tidbits of mannerly stuff, I send you "Happy End of School and Start of Summer Vacation" wishes!
Leslie
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
KIVA and cleaning out
Dear Good Manners Devotee',
My apologies for not posting sooner. The Good Manners Family has been cleaning up its act over the last two weeks. (I didn't have a good enough excuse to stop cleaning and start posting -- as much as I wanted to!)
Dear Devotees', it pains me to write that not only does the Good Manners Family have a tendency to be pack rats but we seem to be pathologically unable to pick up after ourselves.
There isn't a homework assignment, poem, painting, invitation, coupon, magazine, recipe, book, cat toy, outgrown sweater, hair band, marker, single sock, shopping list, etc., that we haven't kept. I even found many (and I mean many) old plastic baby bottles that I had stored in case we had another Good Manners Baby. That was 9 years ago (and, no, we didn't).
Ironically, I just changed the channel and came upon Clean House. (I miss Niecey Nash.)
Anyway, about the Good Manners Family's newly Clean House -- there's definitely something real about clutter sucking the life and energy out of things. I already feel invigorated.
Plus we've been able to have some Good Manners Friends over without embarrassment. And I'm not yelling all the time for someone to ignore me when I ask someone to pick something up. It's been a long process (and there are still a couple of piles on the dining room table and in the garage that need our attention), but it's just about over. Phew.
All this trash got me thinking about how lucky we are when there are so many people in the world who have so little -- while we have so much excess and waste.
We did donate a lot of our stuff to Good Will and Purple Heart. But I wanted to tell you about this great non profit organization called KIVA, because it's another way we could use our abundance to help others.
The Good Manners Daughters and I recently took some of our proceeds from our site http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/ and made a donation. Here's how KIVA works: they register people from all over the world who are looking for help to make their lives better. The people ask for a loan for their business and you can help them by lending them a portion (or all) of their loan amount. The loan is repayed over a pre-determined time frame.
It was great to involve the Good Manners Daughters in reading all of the stories and making our decision over who would get our first loan. It showed them, too, how many people working together, even just by donating a little money, can really make a difference.
Sort of like how a family, members working together, each doing a little bit of work (i.e., putting that candy wrapper in the trash can) makes light work for the whole entire family.
Is that a stretch to make a point, Devoted Fans? My apologies. It's time for bed -- and a dreamless sleep in our clutter-free bedroom.
Until I post again,
Leslie
http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/
My apologies for not posting sooner. The Good Manners Family has been cleaning up its act over the last two weeks. (I didn't have a good enough excuse to stop cleaning and start posting -- as much as I wanted to!)
Dear Devotees', it pains me to write that not only does the Good Manners Family have a tendency to be pack rats but we seem to be pathologically unable to pick up after ourselves.
There isn't a homework assignment, poem, painting, invitation, coupon, magazine, recipe, book, cat toy, outgrown sweater, hair band, marker, single sock, shopping list, etc., that we haven't kept. I even found many (and I mean many) old plastic baby bottles that I had stored in case we had another Good Manners Baby. That was 9 years ago (and, no, we didn't).
Ironically, I just changed the channel and came upon Clean House. (I miss Niecey Nash.)
Anyway, about the Good Manners Family's newly Clean House -- there's definitely something real about clutter sucking the life and energy out of things. I already feel invigorated.
Plus we've been able to have some Good Manners Friends over without embarrassment. And I'm not yelling all the time for someone to ignore me when I ask someone to pick something up. It's been a long process (and there are still a couple of piles on the dining room table and in the garage that need our attention), but it's just about over. Phew.
All this trash got me thinking about how lucky we are when there are so many people in the world who have so little -- while we have so much excess and waste.
We did donate a lot of our stuff to Good Will and Purple Heart. But I wanted to tell you about this great non profit organization called KIVA, because it's another way we could use our abundance to help others.
The Good Manners Daughters and I recently took some of our proceeds from our site http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/ and made a donation. Here's how KIVA works: they register people from all over the world who are looking for help to make their lives better. The people ask for a loan for their business and you can help them by lending them a portion (or all) of their loan amount. The loan is repayed over a pre-determined time frame.
It was great to involve the Good Manners Daughters in reading all of the stories and making our decision over who would get our first loan. It showed them, too, how many people working together, even just by donating a little money, can really make a difference.
Sort of like how a family, members working together, each doing a little bit of work (i.e., putting that candy wrapper in the trash can) makes light work for the whole entire family.
Is that a stretch to make a point, Devoted Fans? My apologies. It's time for bed -- and a dreamless sleep in our clutter-free bedroom.
Until I post again,
Leslie
http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Jon and Kate + 8
Dear Good Manners Devotee',
I find that I just have to write one little thing about this infamous show and couple.
Okay -- maybe two.
The Good Manners Daughters have been obsessed with the show for the last six months. When I would come home from work and put together a nutritious meal (well, maybe it was while I was nuking something in the microwave) I would see repeat after repeat after repeat of the show. Either TLC was loading up the schedule or the Good Manners Daughters were dvd-ing them -- regardless, it was on all the time.
At the beginning, I thought it was cute. I also sort of related to them -- not because of the multiples, but because they are living in the Reading area -- including Wernersville -- where I grew up. And it was fun to hear it mentioned, and see local attractions such as Dutch Wonderland. (We also live outside of Philadelphia so it's all familiar to us.)
But then I would hear Kate over and over and over while I was nuking -- I mean cooking -- dinner, and she really started getting on my nerves. I couldn't believe how she talked to the kids and how she talked to Jon. I said as much to Good Manners Dad and the Good Manners Daughters.
(It also got on my nerves, after having paid for my piano, when I watched the episode where someone gave them a piano. Just to name a few of the free things they've gotten.)
Anyway, I digress. As this is the Good Manners Mom's Blog, my point about bringing up Jon and Kate + 8 is this: you should always try do your best to treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
I know, I know -- who can be nice 100% of the time? That's why I say try .
The alternative -- well, chances are your bad manners won't be captured on cable tv for millions to see your behavior. But they could be. And that would be embarrassing. And awful. And show you the damage that can be done when you don't treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
So here's to following the Golden Rule -- and hoping for the Gosselin children sake that their parents will, too.
Leslie
http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/
I find that I just have to write one little thing about this infamous show and couple.
Okay -- maybe two.
The Good Manners Daughters have been obsessed with the show for the last six months. When I would come home from work and put together a nutritious meal (well, maybe it was while I was nuking something in the microwave) I would see repeat after repeat after repeat of the show. Either TLC was loading up the schedule or the Good Manners Daughters were dvd-ing them -- regardless, it was on all the time.
At the beginning, I thought it was cute. I also sort of related to them -- not because of the multiples, but because they are living in the Reading area -- including Wernersville -- where I grew up. And it was fun to hear it mentioned, and see local attractions such as Dutch Wonderland. (We also live outside of Philadelphia so it's all familiar to us.)
But then I would hear Kate over and over and over while I was nuking -- I mean cooking -- dinner, and she really started getting on my nerves. I couldn't believe how she talked to the kids and how she talked to Jon. I said as much to Good Manners Dad and the Good Manners Daughters.
(It also got on my nerves, after having paid for my piano, when I watched the episode where someone gave them a piano. Just to name a few of the free things they've gotten.)
Anyway, I digress. As this is the Good Manners Mom's Blog, my point about bringing up Jon and Kate + 8 is this: you should always try do your best to treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
I know, I know -- who can be nice 100% of the time? That's why I say try .
The alternative -- well, chances are your bad manners won't be captured on cable tv for millions to see your behavior. But they could be. And that would be embarrassing. And awful. And show you the damage that can be done when you don't treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
So here's to following the Golden Rule -- and hoping for the Gosselin children sake that their parents will, too.
Leslie
http://www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com/
Saturday, May 16, 2009
CNN Study: kids social skills linked to Mom
Dear Good Manners Devotees',
Yesterday I read an interesting article on CNN.com about how mothers' talk is key to kids social skills.
I'm doing my best to make the above cnn.com a live link so that you can go to it if you 'd like to read more -- my apologies if it doesn't work. (Try www.cnn.com/2009/health/05/15/mother.children.social.skills/index.html)
In a nutshell, it details findings of a study that shows "...the way mothers talk to their children at a young age influences their social skills later in life. Children whose mothers often talked to them about people's feelings, beliefs, wants and intentions developed better social understanding than children whose mothers did not."
The article goes on to say that giving children a vocabulary of feelings helps them realize what their emotions are and gives them the ability to describe them in order to become more empathetic.
An example: when a child grabs a toy from another child, instead of saying "don't grab" or "stop it," it would be helpful to say that it makes the other child sad, and that it would make him or her sad if the same thing was done to them. (I actually put that ending onto it, that's how I interpreted it.)
So what am I, Good Manners Mom, trying to say to you, you ask?
That it's never too early to show our children how to treat other people with respect, to treat them the way that they want to be treated. Teaching them to understand feelings and to express their feelings early on can influence how they treat others for the rest of their lives.
Let me rephrase that, it sounds so clinical and preachy -- and yucky and burdensome -- as if you aren't busy enough trying to raise happy and healthy children.
Good manners and respect for other people are just like riding a bike -- at first, learning it is hard, and then once you learn how, it's something you never lose.
Just start using opportunities casually as they come up every day (or every other day or once a week) and soon your child will be well on the way to becoming a caring person with great social skills, and you will hardly realize you've been doing it!
Until next time,
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
P.S. The article mentions that when the study started 14 years ago, they weren't able to include many dads -- but that today more fathers spend time at home with their young children. So, Dads, you can do this, too!
Yesterday I read an interesting article on CNN.com about how mothers' talk is key to kids social skills.
I'm doing my best to make the above cnn.com a live link so that you can go to it if you 'd like to read more -- my apologies if it doesn't work. (Try www.cnn.com/2009/health/05/15/mother.children.social.skills/index.html)
In a nutshell, it details findings of a study that shows "...the way mothers talk to their children at a young age influences their social skills later in life. Children whose mothers often talked to them about people's feelings, beliefs, wants and intentions developed better social understanding than children whose mothers did not."
The article goes on to say that giving children a vocabulary of feelings helps them realize what their emotions are and gives them the ability to describe them in order to become more empathetic.
An example: when a child grabs a toy from another child, instead of saying "don't grab" or "stop it," it would be helpful to say that it makes the other child sad, and that it would make him or her sad if the same thing was done to them. (I actually put that ending onto it, that's how I interpreted it.)
So what am I, Good Manners Mom, trying to say to you, you ask?
That it's never too early to show our children how to treat other people with respect, to treat them the way that they want to be treated. Teaching them to understand feelings and to express their feelings early on can influence how they treat others for the rest of their lives.
Let me rephrase that, it sounds so clinical and preachy -- and yucky and burdensome -- as if you aren't busy enough trying to raise happy and healthy children.
Good manners and respect for other people are just like riding a bike -- at first, learning it is hard, and then once you learn how, it's something you never lose.
Just start using opportunities casually as they come up every day (or every other day or once a week) and soon your child will be well on the way to becoming a caring person with great social skills, and you will hardly realize you've been doing it!
Until next time,
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
P.S. The article mentions that when the study started 14 years ago, they weren't able to include many dads -- but that today more fathers spend time at home with their young children. So, Dads, you can do this, too!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Joining Twitter and new blog launch
Dear Good Manners Devotee',
Two exciting things have happened that I wanted to share with you.
I have started a new blog, www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com and I have signed-up for Twitter.
If you would like to follow me on Twitter, you can click the link on the left underneath where my last 5 Twitter posts will appear. Just follow the easy instructions. Or, you can just check back on the Good Manners Blog for twitters (or it is tweets?) when you come back to read my new posts.
I'll be twittering random manners thoughts/questions/observations -- so if you'd like to be entertained by these little nuggets of -- oh, shall I say "wisdom" -- I hope you'll sign up to follow me.
My new blog, www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com is something different than the Good Manners Mom blog. On it, I am blogging about the good sportsmanship issues that we and our children come across. I'll be featuring some guest bloggers (coaches, parents, kids) to keep things interesting. You can click any of the highlighted links to reach it, or access it through my main site, www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com. I hope you'll take a peek at it -- it''s different than this blog but if you have children or grandchildren who play sports, I know you'll find something to interest you.
Next blog, I'll be back with some new manners observations/problems/comments.
Until then,
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
Two exciting things have happened that I wanted to share with you.
I have started a new blog, www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com and I have signed-up for Twitter.
If you would like to follow me on Twitter, you can click the link on the left underneath where my last 5 Twitter posts will appear. Just follow the easy instructions. Or, you can just check back on the Good Manners Blog for twitters (or it is tweets?) when you come back to read my new posts.
I'll be twittering random manners thoughts/questions/observations -- so if you'd like to be entertained by these little nuggets of -- oh, shall I say "wisdom" -- I hope you'll sign up to follow me.
My new blog, www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com is something different than the Good Manners Mom blog. On it, I am blogging about the good sportsmanship issues that we and our children come across. I'll be featuring some guest bloggers (coaches, parents, kids) to keep things interesting. You can click any of the highlighted links to reach it, or access it through my main site, www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com. I hope you'll take a peek at it -- it''s different than this blog but if you have children or grandchildren who play sports, I know you'll find something to interest you.
Next blog, I'll be back with some new manners observations/problems/comments.
Until then,
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
Monday, April 27, 2009
Don't say anything if you can't say anything nice!
Dear Loyal Fans of Good Manners,
As I have -- thankfully -- no bathroom or kitchenette issues to share with you tonight, I thought I'd give my blog a little redesign. I'm not much of a techno-wiz but I went in and changed the template and the colors -- and I actually think it turned out okay! What do you think of it?
I guess that's a loaded question. I mean, what can you really say? It's like when I ask the Good Manners Dad/Husband how I look and he says fine.
Or when I tell the Good Manners Daughters that they absolutely must not turn their nose up at some exotic food that they are offered and absolutely not say "I don't like xyz" to the person's face.
It's such a fine line between lying (oh, so harsh -- let's say fibbing) and showing people respect.
I remind myself all the time that if I can't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. But sometimes, I admit, Dear Good Manners Fan, I do slip up.
Oh, not about the exotic food (I can rearrange the food on my plate to fool the best of them).
But maybe I've tried to give constructive advice ... and it backfires. Sometimes. Maybe more than sometimes. Okay ... in fact, it does almost all the time with the older Good Manners Daughter.
She's a teenager. Let's just say that we're both going through some growing pains. (Oh, it was so much easier when she was cute and little -- and thought I was always right! Because I was. Aren't I still?)
I just want to make things easier for her than it was for me growing up. So she can benefit now -- instead of years from now -- from what I learned the hard way. Dear Readers -- don't we all want what's best for our children?
But I need to remember that I need to respect her instead of instruct her (or criticize her, as she says). First thing tomorrow I'm going to practice biting my tongue when I think I know best. Really, I am. (Even when it's clear that I do know best.)
So, back to the beginning -- my loaded question about what you think of my new blog design? Don't feel like you have to tell me it's fine (like Good Manners Dad/Husband might). But I hope you'll feel free to comment about anything else or sign up for an email feed to keep in touch. Or become a follower. I'd love to have you.
Until I blog again,
Leslie
P.S. If you didn't come from my site www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com you can click here and check it out. And, if your children are interested in sports, you might like to check out my new blog www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com that I've just started to share information to help children be good sports.
As I have -- thankfully -- no bathroom or kitchenette issues to share with you tonight, I thought I'd give my blog a little redesign. I'm not much of a techno-wiz but I went in and changed the template and the colors -- and I actually think it turned out okay! What do you think of it?
I guess that's a loaded question. I mean, what can you really say? It's like when I ask the Good Manners Dad/Husband how I look and he says fine.
Or when I tell the Good Manners Daughters that they absolutely must not turn their nose up at some exotic food that they are offered and absolutely not say "I don't like xyz" to the person's face.
It's such a fine line between lying (oh, so harsh -- let's say fibbing) and showing people respect.
I remind myself all the time that if I can't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. But sometimes, I admit, Dear Good Manners Fan, I do slip up.
Oh, not about the exotic food (I can rearrange the food on my plate to fool the best of them).
But maybe I've tried to give constructive advice ... and it backfires. Sometimes. Maybe more than sometimes. Okay ... in fact, it does almost all the time with the older Good Manners Daughter.
She's a teenager. Let's just say that we're both going through some growing pains. (Oh, it was so much easier when she was cute and little -- and thought I was always right! Because I was. Aren't I still?)
I just want to make things easier for her than it was for me growing up. So she can benefit now -- instead of years from now -- from what I learned the hard way. Dear Readers -- don't we all want what's best for our children?
But I need to remember that I need to respect her instead of instruct her (or criticize her, as she says). First thing tomorrow I'm going to practice biting my tongue when I think I know best. Really, I am. (Even when it's clear that I do know best.)
So, back to the beginning -- my loaded question about what you think of my new blog design? Don't feel like you have to tell me it's fine (like Good Manners Dad/Husband might). But I hope you'll feel free to comment about anything else or sign up for an email feed to keep in touch. Or become a follower. I'd love to have you.
Until I blog again,
Leslie
P.S. If you didn't come from my site www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com you can click here and check it out. And, if your children are interested in sports, you might like to check out my new blog www.goodsportbadsport.blogspot.com that I've just started to share information to help children be good sports.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friendly Wave -- Part 2
Dear Good Manners Fans,
I write to you tonight with an addendum to my earlier post, The Friendly Wave. (Quite a fancy word -- addendum -- perhaps I shall call it an addition instead!)
As you may remember, Good Manners Dad and the Good Manners Daughters are always disappointed when he lets other cars out into traffic and he doesn't receive a Friendly Wave as his thank you.
I can't tell you how many comments I've received from people with whom I shared the Good Manners Mom Blog who themselves experience this rudeness and lack of good manners -- and they are just as mystified as the Good Manners Family. And like the Good Manners Family, they don't let their annoyance get the better of them -- every day brings a new opportunity for us all to let a traffic-challenged motorist out -- and hope that this time there will be a Friendly Wave or Nod or Smile in return.
While I was glad, of course, that they had enjoyed my post, that is not the reason for my post tonight, Dear Fans. No. My Addendum, or Addition, is to share a word of warning from the Good Manners Family's neighbor.
Good Manners Neighbor never gets a Friendly Wave, either. But she doesn't let that stop her from letting people out at crowded intersections. She cautions, however, that when letting people out, to make sure the path is clear for them the other way.
She learned the hard way that the driver often pulls out without checking it himself because he seems to think that you've given him the all clear rather than just giving him the opportunity to turn or pull out before you do.
I know, I know, so much responsibility suddenly lands in your lap when all you're trying to do is a good deed. So not only do I have to let them out, you think, I have to make sure they don't get hit by someone else? Is it really worth it?
Yes, it is. Because hopefully someday someone will let you out at that bad traffic spot. Just remember to check the other direction first before you turn!
Until my next post, drive safely and wave responsibly, Dear Good Manners Fans!
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
I write to you tonight with an addendum to my earlier post, The Friendly Wave. (Quite a fancy word -- addendum -- perhaps I shall call it an addition instead!)
As you may remember, Good Manners Dad and the Good Manners Daughters are always disappointed when he lets other cars out into traffic and he doesn't receive a Friendly Wave as his thank you.
I can't tell you how many comments I've received from people with whom I shared the Good Manners Mom Blog who themselves experience this rudeness and lack of good manners -- and they are just as mystified as the Good Manners Family. And like the Good Manners Family, they don't let their annoyance get the better of them -- every day brings a new opportunity for us all to let a traffic-challenged motorist out -- and hope that this time there will be a Friendly Wave or Nod or Smile in return.
While I was glad, of course, that they had enjoyed my post, that is not the reason for my post tonight, Dear Fans. No. My Addendum, or Addition, is to share a word of warning from the Good Manners Family's neighbor.
Good Manners Neighbor never gets a Friendly Wave, either. But she doesn't let that stop her from letting people out at crowded intersections. She cautions, however, that when letting people out, to make sure the path is clear for them the other way.
She learned the hard way that the driver often pulls out without checking it himself because he seems to think that you've given him the all clear rather than just giving him the opportunity to turn or pull out before you do.
I know, I know, so much responsibility suddenly lands in your lap when all you're trying to do is a good deed. So not only do I have to let them out, you think, I have to make sure they don't get hit by someone else? Is it really worth it?
Yes, it is. Because hopefully someday someone will let you out at that bad traffic spot. Just remember to check the other direction first before you turn!
Until my next post, drive safely and wave responsibly, Dear Good Manners Fans!
Leslie
www.goodmannerskidsstuff.com
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