Thursday, August 7, 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen

How are you teaching (or planning on teaching) your boys to be gentlemen and your girls to be ladies?

5 comments:

Momma Basel said...

I don't have any specific, detailed plans for this. The closest I've come so far is by asking 4 yo to "remember to be a lady" when she's wearing a dress but not sitting very lady-like.

I'd really love to hear some real life examples of what you do or how you were raised!

Anonymous said...

Like you, Karen, I don't have anything major I do for this or any big plans at the moment. I just make a moment teachable when I have the opportunity. For instance, with my son especially, I encourage him to be helpful and protecting to the girls in the home because someday that will be his role as husband- like when there is a bug I encourage him to get it and just say something like "What a man you are to protect us girls from that bug! Thank you!!" So when there is an opportunity I try to teach but at this age the opportunities are few and far between!

Meghan Theiss said...

Well, my plan is that once they start schooling, which is this year--yipee! I want to incorporate a tea-time in the afternoons, where we can just relax a bit, talk and learn how to be a lady and maybe do a quick study on one of the women in the Bible. My girls love tea-time. It seems like an ideal time to teach them at this age how they need to start holding themselves gracefully and incorp. that into their manners. I would say 4 is even a little too young for some to catch on to it. But 6 yo seems like a good age to start talking about it more and expecting results. We have also done ballet, and I think that helps a lot in how they think of moving gracefully.
Personally, I really think my sister (8 years older than me) taught me manners more than my mother did. She demanded them from me! It was good, though! And watching my Great-Grandmother...she was so graceful. I also liked old movies where I could watch the women act lady-like. That was a big influence on me, I think. Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, etc.
--Meghan

Momma Basel said...

Meghan -- What a fun idea to have a tea time! Do you really serve tea to your girls, or do they drink something else? Do you have a special tea set they'll use?

I love that you commented on your great-grandmother. I'm afraid there's something that's been lost through the generations. My grandpa always stands up when someone, especially a female, enters the room. And he dons a suitcoat to go visit for birthdays or other occasions. How cool is that! Maybe I should ask my grandparents about how they learned manners. Hmmm....

NicoleRanstrom said...

Being that my oldest is only 3.5, I'm not sure yet how I will implement this, but I have always thought it is important to teach boys self-control and girls self-confindence. It seems these 2 things are lost in our society often by the time they even reach school age.

I think it's okay for boys to be masculine and girls to be feminine. I don't want them to muddle that. I hate that our society ofetn confuses the genders and expects everyone to be somehwere in the middle. (anyway, that's a soap box for another time). :-)

I have thought about karate class, or something like that to teach both things to my kids.

Also, I have friends with older kids who play out "manners scenerios" at home before they actually handle them publically. Like... we're going to the restaurant tonight, let's practice our manners at the table right now... or on an airplane... or to a wedding, etc. Help them plan ahead for what's to come.

We also always call adults by Mr. and Ms. Like Ms. Karen and Mr. Sam, for example. (when they are older, it will be Ms. Basel and Mr. Basel.)