Well mannered kids
A few months ago I went to one of my favorite diners for a late lunch around 3pm on a weekday. As I entered the restaurant I noticed what appeared to be a Dad with 3 kids, a boy about 10, a girl about 8 and a girl about 5. My first thought was to go somewhere else since I did not want to eat around some noisy kids, but I sat at a booth, ordered my lunch, and begin to read. After a few moments I looked up and everything was still quite, I looked at the family, they were talking, laughing and having a fun time while being as quite as any other respectful person would be. Time passed, my lunch was served, I ate the entire meal in that same quiteness, several times I looked at the family,,,,, they continued to talk, laugh and have a great time while being very quite, respectful and extremely well disciplined. I was so impressed, I will repeat that, I was so impressed with this experience that as I was going to the cashier I stopped at the table and said to the Dad that I wanted to talk to him about his children. He immediately replied, Have we done something to disrupt your lunch? Of course I said No, just the opposite, I was impressed with how quite the diner was and thanked him. The Dad said they have a standing rule that says for any and all unsolicited positive comments these kids get from strangers because of them being well mannered and disciplined kids, the parents put additional $10.oo in the vacation kitty and the kids get to chose how to spend that money on the summer vacation. The kids had already accomplished that for the second time that day = $20.00. The $10.00 in my hand for my lunch, I gave to the Dad and said, Now they have $30.00. The kids all thanked me on their own without parental input, this was awesome. I paid the cashier, was walking thru the door and the boy said, Hey Mister, I turned to look and all 3 kids gave me the double thumbs up. I smiled and knew I was in the middle of something very special. I know a lot of parents have good intentions but sometimes kids can get carried away. I thought about this for a few days and came to the conclusion that my time would be better suited looking for the roses and not the thorns. It also reminded me of how quick we are to pre-judge people, places, and things. As parents you may try something like this, the prize could be a dollar or 5 dollars,,,, but the real prize is the advantages the well mannered and dsiciplined kids will have over those that aren’t. I wish you well in your parenting.
I enjoy your post – excellent work!