Is your son/daughter a rude and crude dude/sassy lassy? How about a mannerly lil' man/polite Penelope? Depending on how old you are and where you’re from the term can mean different things. Here’s my definition:
A gentleman is a child or adult who uses their manners and does kind things for others.
Plain and simple on paper but a little harder to teach. Here are my 3 steps to raising a gentleman (woman):
- Create expectations
Talk to your child about what manners and respect are. The more they know the better. Be sure to change your conversation tactics depending on the age and mentality of your child. Put out clear objectives like “You’ll say please and thank you when asking or receiving something”, “I want you to ask to be excused from the table”, “When we are out in public I think it would be very respectful if you open the door for others”. - Enforce
Once you set the expectations enforce them. Don’t let you child have something until they've used there manners, ask opened ended questions to get them use to the idea of including words like please and thank you on requests and suggest good deeds until they get the jest. - Reward
Yes, I said reward not reward or punish. This is just my personal opinion but what’s the point of teaching respect to a child when you can’t even respect them enough to explain what they did wrong and offer them the opportunity to grow. A good deed should not go unnoticed but a gentle reminder when it doesn't happen naturally can go a long way.
Comment below on how your raising you little gentleman (woman).
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