Last weekend, we were at a friend's place for lunch. The food was yummy. Within a few seconds of starting to dig into his plate, Ads piped up "Aunty, your paneer is awesome." Shortly thereafter - "Aunty, the food is really good. And your house looks like a restaurant." He meant - it was pretty and the table was nicely set :)
Needless to stay, 'Aunty' was floored! I was quietly proud that he had remembered to compliment the hostess on her beautifully-kept house and great food. What I should have mentioned in my last milestones post is how much Ads has improved in terms of just basic courtesy and now, also the little niceties of lavishing compliments without being prompted to do so.
No longer do I have to remind him about saying Hello and Thank you. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal except that one does have to remind kids every time about these words and it does not come naturally to them. Indeed, I've personally been on it ever since he was 2 years old and my standard line of What do we say, Ads? is a given on every occasion! This Diwali, he came up to people he knew and wished them a Happy Diwali without me having to nudge him.
The additional upside to this is that I can see the positive influence on Y as well. Though she's a little shy and needs some prompting to greet strangers (forget talking to them), I'm sure Ads' influence will find its mark some day.
Folks reading my blog may get the impression of Ads being some saint-like character. He's a good boy alright (that much I'll admit!) but I tend to emphasize the positive aspects of his personality. The not-so-great parts are very much in evidence, and at this point the most annoying of these is his constant big-brother attitude towards Y. Teasing Y, needling her and reducing her to tears for no apparent reason is a daily affair and of course telling Y to ignore him has absolutely no effect! When even mommy can't ignore him and control her irritation, what chance does 4-year-old Y have? :)
I can imagine if the hostess was floored. I still have to remind my kids to greet and say goodbye to friends' parents/visitors, sigh!
ReplyDeleteI know...Its taken my 5+ years to get to this stage...am hoping its not just a polite phase!
DeleteAdvaith was ALWAYS polite :D :D. I only know of him as an absolute angel, I swear!
ReplyDeleteSooo biased! :)
DeleteWow Aparna that shows you are a great mom. Becos these days i see kids acting expressive but always picking up on negatives. I need to remind my son time in and out sometimes not to talk right on the face of the host. The big bro attitude happens. My little one can reduce the elder one to tears and vice versa.Good job Ads.
ReplyDeleteGhar ghar ki kahani, huh? :)
DeleteWow, this must feel so rewarding as a mother, right?
ReplyDeleteIt does uma. It feels good.
DeleteAwwww
ReplyDeleteI'm sure 'Aunty' would have been floored. :)
Good going, Aparna! I believe it is always the parents who have a large part to play in instilling good manners in the child. You seem to be succeeding wonderfully in that.
Thanks TGND....parents have to do a lot to get their kids to have good manners. But its hard work :(
DeleteAdvaith is well behaved ;-) and both are real fun!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
Deletehehe sometimes it's weird the similarities we have ... though I have not experienced this when we visited people as D is not that big on talking to adults we meet outside yet, she practices this at home very well. The days that I (unusually) cook something - usually a pasta or something easy to throw together , I hear lots of cries of "Awesome amma!". S of course copies everything nowadays, so he has to chime in too ;).
ReplyDeleteAnd Ads has negatives :O ! I still think that's a very small part of his personality, some sibling interactions you have to allow for :).
Its great that D does it too...well I am sure u love it when she compliments u!!
Delete