Teaching Manners by Leading With Example

Every January I take the time to reflect on what I could improve upon in the New Year.  We all have room for improvement and it’s healthy to let your kids know that even mom and dad could improve on things.  Yes, it’s a good feeling that our kids, up until they hit their teens think that we are still “perfect,”  but the earlier in life we teach them their is always room to improve, the more apt they will be to want to improve.

Being a mom of a teenager, now more than ever I see the need for parents to teach kids about having good social skills.  Lets face it, kids are becoming increasingly dependent on technology and are having less face to face interaction with their friends.  Technology is a great tool, but it’s important that kids know when to put it away.

It’s hard for a child to envision how being able to say hello to someone and look at them in the eyes and help them later in life, or how being able to communicate effectively with people could be the difference between getting the job or not.  But as parents, we need to let them know what is socially acceptable and what isn’t.  This New Year, I want to challenge parents to be good role models and show your kids by example what is appropriate and what is not.  So next time you catch yourself texting while you are talking to them, or having a phone conversation with someone while in line at the market think twice about the  message you are sending to them!