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General rules I hope people understand....
1. When offering food to a toddler or little kid, please ask the guardian before waving the food in front of the kid's face. Most people do remember to ask the parent/aunt, but only after the kid has already seen it. It's really hard to tell her no when her hands are already on the candy.
1a. If we all say yes, and "put it away for later", there's a good chance that the kid isn't getting whatever delicious snack you offered. The rest of us like cookies too.
2. DO NOT TAP ON THE ANIMAL CAGES. Seriously. When we went out to eat the other day, the place we went to had a fishtank at the front door. The fish were swimming all around, except when they saw a child or very short person walk by. Then they'd scurry (inasmuch as fish can scurry) to the farthest corner of the tank and stay completely still. I can only imagine that their tank has been banged on far too often, which is a pity, because Ana thought they were cool and wasn't about to bang on the tank. Then we go to the BCM, and they have animals - and the number of kids who banged on the tanks of the animals and didn't get told off by their parents for it is scary. That's frakkin' rude, and any child old enough to walk up to a glass tank and do that is old enough to not do it.
3. While we're at it, if you can teach your older kids to watch where they're going, thanks...? I'd like to tell Ana to watch where she's going, but she's a toddler, she doesn't always listen. When she's seven, I hope she *does* listen and doesn't randomly trip over toddlers and small dogs.
4. If the bus or subway is crowded, your very young child who didn't pay for a seat on the bus or subway should sit in your lap, or stand. This goes double if somebody else is carrying lots of packages, or is very old, or is pregnant, or is obviously not steady on their feet. That kind of thing is *basic*.
5. When the kid is doing something that her guardians are clearly not happy with, this isn't the time to tell her that she's cute. No, really. (However, cheers for the person who applauded Ana when she finally picked up what she'd thrown down in a temper tantrum. That was nice.)
Honestly, sometimes I wonder if people learned the same manners I did. Maybe I'm completely out of the loop?
Oh, and another thing - Ana does throw out her garbage. And she does say please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome, and sorry. She's past two. These are the foundations of American society. They really don't merit surprised comment. Really. I mean, you can comment, but the rest of us will just sit there and wonder how lacking in manners your kids are, so maybe you'd better not.
1a. If we all say yes, and "put it away for later", there's a good chance that the kid isn't getting whatever delicious snack you offered. The rest of us like cookies too.
2. DO NOT TAP ON THE ANIMAL CAGES. Seriously. When we went out to eat the other day, the place we went to had a fishtank at the front door. The fish were swimming all around, except when they saw a child or very short person walk by. Then they'd scurry (inasmuch as fish can scurry) to the farthest corner of the tank and stay completely still. I can only imagine that their tank has been banged on far too often, which is a pity, because Ana thought they were cool and wasn't about to bang on the tank. Then we go to the BCM, and they have animals - and the number of kids who banged on the tanks of the animals and didn't get told off by their parents for it is scary. That's frakkin' rude, and any child old enough to walk up to a glass tank and do that is old enough to not do it.
3. While we're at it, if you can teach your older kids to watch where they're going, thanks...? I'd like to tell Ana to watch where she's going, but she's a toddler, she doesn't always listen. When she's seven, I hope she *does* listen and doesn't randomly trip over toddlers and small dogs.
4. If the bus or subway is crowded, your very young child who didn't pay for a seat on the bus or subway should sit in your lap, or stand. This goes double if somebody else is carrying lots of packages, or is very old, or is pregnant, or is obviously not steady on their feet. That kind of thing is *basic*.
5. When the kid is doing something that her guardians are clearly not happy with, this isn't the time to tell her that she's cute. No, really. (However, cheers for the person who applauded Ana when she finally picked up what she'd thrown down in a temper tantrum. That was nice.)
Honestly, sometimes I wonder if people learned the same manners I did. Maybe I'm completely out of the loop?
Oh, and another thing - Ana does throw out her garbage. And she does say please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome, and sorry. She's past two. These are the foundations of American society. They really don't merit surprised comment. Really. I mean, you can comment, but the rest of us will just sit there and wonder how lacking in manners your kids are, so maybe you'd better not.
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But I'm basically terrified of confrontation and conflict, and I get really nervous when I'm around lots of people. So I didn't really have the guts to say anything. :\