PLEASE......NO ELBOWS ON THE TABLE!

Okay, WHERE is it exactly that you draw the line? In the few years now that I have tried my hand at teaching Andrew proper table manners, it seems that there are a few of them that never really are remembered somehow! I came across this delightful book by Emily Post a while back while visiting a local bookstore and have found that it is really very helpful in teaching basic as well as not so basic table manners to your little ones. As she points out in this wonderful book, the suggestions here are not just for fancy parties and dinner at grandma's house. It's basic information you can teach your children to use every day to improve their social life. I don't know about you, but I have had a really hard time trying to convince Andrew that being GROSS is not a GOOD thing! Like any typical six year old, the more disgusting you can be, the better! So when I tell him that it is not nice to chew his food up and then open his mouth and show it to his cousin, Hailee, because it's GROSS, well, he just laughs and does it again, because after all, he WANTS it to be gross! I then try to explain to him that being GROSS is not a GOOD thing while at the dinner table. We DO NOT put our elbows on the table , we DO NOT chew our food with our mouths open, we Do put our napkins in our lap, we Do say please when asking for more of something, we DO say excuse me when we belch (accidently of course),etc..... are all of the things I have tried to teach him over and over and I must say that for the most part he has done pretty well. I have found the "Table Manners for Kids" book quite helpful in at least convincing Andrew that I am not "making table manners up", that there is actually a BOOK on the subject and that other moms and dads DO have these rules at their homes too (although he swears his friend Mattox's mom would NEVER actually make him use a napkin)! Oh, there are still the occaisional times that he "forgets" (conveniently) and finds it hilarious to slurp spaghetti noodles up through a straw, or fling a pea or two across the table at Hailee when I'm not looking, but for the most part he sits up straight (when I remind him), he uses his napkin to wipe his mouth (when he catches me giving him "the look" as he starts to use his sleeve instead), and says please and thank you ( when I pretend not to hear him when he says "pass the potatoes" instead), I guess the real test of how well I have done will be when he takes a girl out on a date in the future and remembers NOT to show her his half eaten food while sharing a nice dinner together! I only hope I live long enough to bask in my triumph!!

Erin