Top Ten Etiquette Tips for Your Child

It is important to teach children at a young age, the importance of appreciating the efforts of others. Your children will be the recipients of many gifts. This begins when they are brought into the world and it will continue into their adulthood. There is no excuse for anyone to behave in a less-than civilized manner today. The manner in which you approach your child will depend on his age level. So start to shape the personality of your child by following the ten simple tips mentioned below: -

1. Please and Thank You
“Please” and “Thank You” are still the magic words they've always been, and you will be doing your child a favour if you insist that she uses them until they become a habit. Everyone likes to be appreciated, and “Thank You” is the accepted way of showing appreciation. “Please” can turn a demand into a request and indicates an option—it can turn an unpopular request into a more palatable one.

2. Greetings

Teach your children, as soon as they are old enough to understand, to greet people by name. Learning early on to look someone in the eye and say “Hello Mr. Kelly” is much more effective instead of just mumbling greetings to the ground.

3. Table Manners
Table manners for children should be the same as they are for adults, with one small exception: young children should be permitted to be excused from the table, if the meal is an extended one. Expecting a young child to sit quietly through a protracted meal when his food is gone will result in the child wiggling and fiddling around at the dinning table.

4. Privacy
In order to teach your children to respect your privacy, you must respect theirs.
• Don't try to involve yourself in their conversations.
• Don't listen in on their telephone conversations.
• Don't go through their belongings.
• Don't interfere.
• Knock and wait for a “come in” before entering their room.

5. Interrupting
Teach your children not to interrupt. This is part of learning to respect other people's rights. It is up to you to teach your child to wait for a break in a conversation to speak. A mother who consistently stops and says, “What is it, dear?” when her daughter interrupts will not help in building proper manners. Establish a habit that will do her good all her life.

6. Thank You Notes
It is not necessary to write a thank you note, when a gift is opened and the donor is thanked personally at the time of opening. If the gifts are not opened in front of the donors, get your child to write a personal note of thanks to each donors.

7. Fair Play
Fair play among children builds good sportsmanship and respect for others. It includes the practice of kindness, taking turns and sharing. One of the best ways to teach fair play is by setting a good example.

8. Shaking Hands
Teaching your child to shake hands is a good way of getting them used to greeting people appropriately. Teach your child how to shake hands, exchange greetings by looking people in the eye and greet them by name.

9. Telephone Manners
A child's first experience with the phone will be saying “Hi” to a relative or close friend. Good phone manners that children will learn over time include speaking clearly, identifying themselves, taking messages, and not dominating phone use.

10. Out and About
Children need to learn that good manners are used everywhere, not just with their grandparents. Table manners, please and thank you, polite greetings, and respectful conversations should called for at home, at friends' homes, in restaurants, at school, and even in the shopping mall. If children are made to practice good manners regularly at home, they will continue the habit of using them everywhere, adding to your satisfaction and delight.