Teaching Manners is Fun

My girls had been begging for a tea party.  The first night we did one was very simple and we used Ivy’s Ikea tea set.  Needless to say, most of my time was spent refilling their tiny glasses.

What I didn’t expect was the girls both spoke with a British accent and asked what the “rules” were.

So in British accents, we discussed where our napkins go, what noises you DON’T make when sipping your drink, how to ask for more, what to do if you don’t like something and how to hold your tea cup politely.

The girls had so much fun, they asked that we do it again but with my china tea set.

So the next night, we made a cake and had a tea party.  We ate cake with our forks instead of our hands.  We chewed with our mouths closed.  We graciously said our pleases and thank yous.  We leaned over our plates so crumbs didn’t fall in our lap.  We had our napkins on our laps, just in case crumbs still managed to fall.  We discussed the day.  We kept our voices at an intimate volume.  And of course, we did it all with British Accents.

I love that the girls think that in order to truly be polite it can only be done in a British accent.   Apparently, we westerners need to prove that we too can be polite and gracious.

How do you teach your children manners?