Teaching Table Manners To Your Kids

Do your children act like wildebeests at the table? Well, ours do too, which is why we love these Table Manners Cards by Golly Gee-pers! They’re a great tool for teaching table manners to kids without lecturing! Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. There are affiliate links are in this post. Your price stays the same, but we may make a small commission off of your purchase.

Last week, we were sitting down to dinner and the kids were really cranked up. It had been a long week and I really need time to reconnect with them, but they just weren’t in the mood for it. They were pestering the daylights out of each other and really testing our patience. The worst part was that they were really putting a damper on our meal and most of it came down to a serious lack of good manners at the table.

The frustrating part is that even though my husband and I are pretty laid back parents in general, we are not laid back when it comes to being respectful. It’s just one of our things. We insist on our children being respectful towards, well, everyone. And, in our home, being respectful means that you must use your manners – every single day – whether you feel like it or not.

So my husband and I did our best to keep from snapping at them, but after a long week, and a home-cooked meal being treated like feeding time at the zoo, I had had enough. So I very sternly told them to leave the table and not come back until they were ready to behave. They knew they were being naughty, but sometimes, it’s just too hard to calm down, so they left the table.

I’d love to say that it was my son who was the real problem because, well, you know…he’s a BOY. But truth be told, my daughter is the wildebeest of the family. She does everything from belching to slouching to using her shirt as a napkin – and we’re convinced that she’ll be single for the rest of eternity. Our son is two years older, so he’s had more time to work on his good table manners, but that night, everything went out the window. He was right alongside his little sister, chewing with his mouth open, propping himself up with his elbows, and talking with his mouth full.

Needless to say, I was pretty annoyed, but every parent knows when it’s just not worth it to push an issue, and this was one of those times. So we brought them up to bed (very, very early) and thought about how we would address their lack of table manners.

We are strong believers in practicing what we preach, but since we already pay close attention to our own manners, we decided that we needed something else to drive home the point that manners, especially good manners at the table, are incredibly important for every person to practice.

TEACHING TABLE MANNERS

For us, our solution for teaching table manners came in a drawstring pouch filled with adorable picture cards demonstrating proper and improper table manners. These Table Manners Cards are made by golly gee-pers! and gave us a way to reinforce proper table etiquette without nagging and prodding. These humorous, but respectful cards, enabled us to kindly address table manners (both good and bad) in the moment that they occur and provided us with a fun game to play during our family dinners.

As parents, we really like this gentle approach, and our children really enjoy getting a turn to be the “Card Keeper”. I also liked that the durable, laminated cards stay clean (because, well, you know, they’re working on using a napkin before touching things with their dirty hands!) and they come in an eco-friendly, 100% cotton, washable bag so we can bring them out to dinner with us too.

Another bonus is that they come with several blank thumbs-up and thumbs-down cards, so we can add our own “issues to be worked upon” to the deck. For us, those cards will be filled out with things like respecting personal space, no yelling at the table and clearing your plate.

Recommended for ages 4 and up, Table Manners Cards has received multiple awards including:

• Two Dr. Toy Awards
• Mom’s Choice Gold Award
• Family Review Center’s Best of 2012 and Seal of Approval
• The Next Big Zing for Kids

So, if you’re looking for a gentle, strength-based way to help you with teaching table manners to your kids, I encourage you to give these Table Manners Cards a try. But before you go, why not share with us what you do in your own home to help encourage your children to use proper table manners? We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading,

Denine

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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