Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
See above comment to mojo. Please. 
I agree that saying please and thank you helps people get along and not feel exploited. And I do sometimes encourage my child to think of others' feelings when I see him overlooking them.
I just tire of all these parents using demanding voices to tell kids to be polite. It feels hypocritical and unnecessary to me. Humans learn how to speak languages simply by listening and by example without needing to be taught carefully. Surely kids will figure out when to say please and thank you without hypervigilant parents breathing down their necks as if they were going to turn into social misfits without frequent reminders of obvious social conventions! |
I think there's a lot area in between those two poles. When I was growing up, whenever my mother would drop me off at someone's house, she'd remind me, "Remember to say 'please' and 'thank you'." I never felt like she was breathing down my neck or anything, but I think it was good thing that I was reminded to be polite when I was going to be a guest in some else's home.