Yes Please! – Who’s child is this?

Any child or adult that shows good manners is always remembered and appreciated.

It is not that difficult to tell the difference between a well-mannered individual and another who is entirely clueless. Afua had to say to me that “you have to teach him because he probably doesn’t know” after I showed surprise that I didn’t get a message the day after I gave Kofi his present.

The polite and considerate things we learn in our childhood help us to develop the manners we adopt as adults. The easiest way young people assume these mannerisms is through the values and attributes displayed by parents and guardians. If you know to say ‘Good Morning’ the first time you see someone from the day you were born, you will say good morning to the Uber driver when he or she comes to pick you up.

Parents with well-mannered children have no problem sending them to the corner shop or having them spend the weekend at Auntie Nana’s while they attend that funeral in the hometown because indeed it will be a pleasure having them.

The process of introducing good manners should start at a very early age. Even though Kids may not seem to understand why it is essential for them to say “please and thank you” when they request or receive anything, it makes them polite and caring. Notwithstanding, the organisational culture in your workplace is also a place to cultivate good manners.

Grooming your children to be well mannered takes patience and commitment from the family as a unit and parents will begin to appreciate the rewards when the behaviour is always appropriate without any prompting (apart from siblings threatening to report the other for bad behaviour).

Parents need to lead by example. They must bear in mind the tone and language they use between each other and even how they communicate when the children are around because they will certainly pick up those habits and use them too.

Even as an adult, it is always refreshing to have a meeting with someone polite and respectful of your opinion even though they may disagree with it. On the local front, imagine going to the Chief’s palace, and you start greeting the elders from the left.

Having said that, one of the most pleasant things for any parent to hear said about their children is “whose children are these?” “They are so well behaved.”