Can I have a post to rant about something that really bothers me? Manners. Where did they go?
Today, I want to talk about the things we seem not to be teaching children anymore. This week I saw:
A child come into the office at the church and begin to go through the drawers of the Pastor’s desk while my husband talked to their parent about a very serious issue. I asked the child politely to please close the drawers and to come over to where I was. He asked, “Why?” He continued to not listen to me, or to the Pastor when he asked him to stop and all the while his mother did and said absolutely nothing. He then went to the fridge to check what was in there. Do you think this was a toddler? No! A third grader? No! Older than that. Learning disability? No! The child was 11. Simply no manners. This kid comes from a stay-at-home mom family. It makes me wonder what she does all day?
I then watched a five year old eat with his mouth open, talk with his mouth full, spewing food as he talked, grab food with his fingers from other’s plates. All the while the mom giggled. Funny? No, not at all. Another stay-at-home mom.
Can I just ask you moms who stay home with your kids, what exactly are you are doing all day because I don’t think that you that you are doing a great deal of teaching? Perhaps if Disney could come up with a video or television show of manners our children would learn because they know everything there is about Sponge Bob, Hannah Montana, Harry Potter and the like. Maybe if they put on itunes or better yet, DS.
I guess my question isn’t where are the manners, I guess my question is where are the parents?
Pastor Susan 