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Teach your toddler manners

By Ijeoma Thomas-Odia
03 March 2018   |   2:55 am
Inculcating good manners in your kids is very essential to their overall wellness and healthy growth, as it sends a message of proper upbringing to whoever comes in contact with your kids. It also tells that you have done well in parenting your children. A well-behaved and well-mannered child is a pride to his family…

Black Little Girl. Photo credit: Baby and Blog

Inculcating good manners in your kids is very essential to their overall wellness and healthy growth, as it sends a message of proper upbringing to whoever comes in contact with your kids.

It also tells that you have done well in parenting your children.

A well-behaved and well-mannered child is a pride to his family and everyone wants a relationship with such child.

It is, however, pertinent to start such culture at a very young age. Yes. It is never too early… toddlers are very interesting persons even those who haven’t learnt to speak yet can be communicated to by signing with words.

They grab messages fast, it is at this age that you begin to fine-tune the gentleman and lady you want to have in future.

Good behaviour cannot start in one day. It takes a process and for toddlers especially you do not expect results almost immediately. Teaching them to say “thank you” and “please” are powerful words that can put smiles on the faces of people. It is important to ensure that you set your child up for success and manners are the surest ways to go higher.

Toddlers can be born with a number of innate abilities but having good manners is certainly not one of them. So, parents have a huge role in shaping and mentoring their young ones. How about having a one-year-old show some gratitude after receiving a gift from an older person, it will feel beautiful and will sure attract more gifts.

According to parenting coach and marriage counselor, Mrs. Yomi Adewale, there are many manners you need to teach your little one, so it will be part of the child’s life as they advance. They include:

PLEASE: Teach him never to bark orders at people, he must learn to be courteous in making demands and say ‘please, could you…’ while dong so.

THANK YOU: Teach him that appreciation makes him a better person and position him for more. Teach him that he must never see anything received as a right that needs not be appreciated; that will be too wrong. So teach him to always say ‘thank you’ for anything done for him.

YOU ARE WELCOME: Teach him to welcome visitors warmly and joyfully, never to look down on them or fail to welcome them. Let the phrase ‘you are welcome’ be something he knows how to say to visitors.

I AM SORRY: Many people’s life, career, relationship and marriage are in shambles and a despicable state because they have not learnt to say, “I am sorry,” whenever they are wrong. If you want your child to live a beautiful life and enjoy good relationships with people, teach him to say ‘I am sorry.’

MAY I?: Asking for permission in a very polite manner may open great and unexpected doors to your child in future; so teach him to say ‘May I?’

EXCUSE ME: Children sometimes push people out of their way or out of the door; this is very wrong. As insignificant as this may seem, it shows high level of disrespect and lack of good manners for any child to push people out of the way. So teach your child to always say “excuse me” when his view is obstructed instead of pushing someone older than him out of the way.

RESPECT: One of the greatest manners you can train your little one is to have respect. Teach him to honour and respect God, his servants, older ones, teachers and constituted authorities.

TABLE MANNERS: Teach him what to do and what not to do when at the dinning. It is important to observe table manners and this can only be inculcated from this age. Your toddler deserves to understand that moving around and making noise should be restricted during meal times.

WHAT TO DO WHEN COUGHING OR YAWNING: Teach your toddler how to use his hands to cover his mouth when coughing or yawning. Let them know that it is hygienic both for him and those around him.

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