Tuesday, March 9, 2010

please and thank you

These days Addelyn remembers everything. She will wake up in the morning and greet us with a comment pertaining to the day before.
"I eat noodles." (dinner the night before)
"I fly on airplane." (every day after getting home from North Carolina)
"I see Austin." (the day before or after going to Jess' house)

As you can see, things are sticking in that little brain. We will drive down the road and she will recognize where we are at. She is processing so much and recognizing and remembering so much.

Why is it that the words please and thank you WILL NOT STICK? I honestly feel like I say "what do you need to say?" five hundred times a day, as I remind Addelyn to use her manners. I don't think she has ever asked for something using the word please until I have reminded her.

Anyone have any great suggestions on how to get these words/manners to stick?

5 comments:

Bethany said...

Kids learn the most through observing the adults around them. Overuse the words every day. (if it's even possible to overuse please and thank you) Eventually she'll catch on!
I love reading your blog! Your stories are so cute!
Love, Bethany (Jamie Rouse's sister)

Hannah Joy said...

Okay so I don't know how I feel about this to a full extent. *I* still think it's important for chidlren to be polite but this article is thought provoking and makes some interesting points. We don't push the please and thank you thing unless she's being out and out rude. We do model it- when I ask her to do some thing (and it's a request not an important thing) I say my pleases and thank yous and she enjoys to say YOU'RE WELCOME really loud and proud. Some times if she's asking in a whiney voice I'll say, "try again 'May I have ______, please.'" and she's proud to be able to say that whole sentence so she does.
Anyway, here's the article...
http://www.naturalchild.org/naomi_aldort/manners.html

Jenni said...

Great family picture!

We're also trying to teach this at our house. What I tend to do is if Hannah asks for something without saying please, I'll ask her "Can you say please?" then she'll say it and I'll give her what she asks. She's pretty good about saying thank you, but I'll remind her to say if it she forgets. Repetition I guess and she'll get it. :)

But isn't it just amazing how quickly they learn things? I love it!

Our Life said...

Okay, this is what I had to do with Audrey about a month ago and it may help since Audrey and Addelyn are exactly the same age... One day, she absolutely refused to say please for her snack so I stood by her, holding her snack. She wanted that snack bad and was crying for it. I just patiently stood by her and kept saying "say please". After about 20 minutes (seriously) of her crying and wanting that snack, she finally realized that she had to say please or she would NOT get that snack. Through tears, she finally said it and I gave her the snack. Then I told her she needed to say thank you. She wouldn't say it, so I took her snack away. She realized fast that I meant business and said thank you immediately. Ever since then we have had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with her saying her pleases and thank you. Just a tip! :)

Becky Bartlett said...

Modeling for sure! And just keep at making her say things again. I always tell Boaz "You need to ask politely and say 'Milk please, Mommy." Then after he says it I praise it and tell him how much I love it when he is polite and says please and thanks. She's a smart cookie- she'll get it!! :)