Manners

Today, I'm taking time out from my learning-autism posts to gently suggest a reminder for parents of all children, autistic or not.

I was speaking with a friend yesterday.  She has children come to her house after school.  One of the girls, around 5 years old, needed to use the bathroom.  My friend allowed it, of course, and then regretted it.  She had unfortunately left a pair of undies on the floor, not intending for anyone to come over before she could get them moved.  Plus, it was her house, so she really didn't think anything of it since she has few people stop by.  Wellllll, the little girl decided it was hilarious that the undies were left out and proceeded to make fun of the situation and the size of the undies.  My friend, even knowing this was only a child, was a tad hurt.  Now, whether or not my friend was wrong to be hurt is not the issue here.  That could open up a whole other can of worms!  The issue is manners.

Manners seem to be one of those things that gets lost in the shuffle sometimes.  Children have to be taught manners.  Some children come by the skill naturally, some have to be saturated in the lessons to just finally give in and accept that they need the manners whether they believe so or not.

Manners are also one of those things that even us adults seem to lose track of at times.  I confess, even I have forgotten my manners from time to time.  I've also met adults who were devoid of manners for whatever reason.  Some people tend to act like having manners is a weakness.

But it is important, especially in this day and age where so much seems to be taken for granted and almost anything goes......please, please take the time to teach your children manners.  Refresh your own if need be; after all, it never hurts.

Manners always make the person better, no matter what the situation.