Courteous
“Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous.” – 1 Peter 3:8
To teach manners, I hosted a fancy dinner party. To excite the kids, I called it a “Fancy Nancy Dinner Party.” I told them to get dressed in their finest. Even I wore a little black dress and heels. I printed out the top 13 basic table manners to teach your kids, and we reviewed those as we were eating. My oldest, especially, really rose to the occasion. She is always up for trying to be a big girl AND doing something fancy. I decided to take the table manners I found and make it a printable for you.
If the following was hard for you to read, here’s the list:
1. Eat with a fork unless the food is meant to be eaten with fingers. Only babies eat with fingers.
2. Sit up and do not hunch over your plate; wrists or forearms can rest on the table, or hands on lap. You don’t want to look like a Neanderthal.
3. Don’t stuff your mouth full of food, it looks gross, and you could choke.
4. Chew with your mouth closed. No one wants to be grossed out seeing food being chewed up or hearing it being chomped on. This includes no talking with your mouth full.
5. Don’t make any rude comments about any food being served. It will hurt someone’s feelings.
6. Always say thank you when served something. Shows appreciation.
7. If the meal is not buffet style, then wait until everyone is served before eating. It shows consideration.
8. Eat slowly and don’t gobble up the food. Someone took a long time to prepare the food, enjoy it slowly. Slowly means to wait about 5 seconds after swallowing before getting another forkful.
9. When eating rolls, tear off a piece of bread before buttering. Eating a whole piece of bread looks tacky.
10. Don’t reach over someone’s plate for something. Politely ask that the item to be passed to you. Shows consideration.
11. Do not pick anything out of your teeth, it’s gross. If it bothers you that bad, excuse yourself and go to the restroom to pick.
12. Always use a napkin to dab your mouth, which should be on your lap when not in use. Remember, dab your mouth only. Do not wipe your face or blow your nose with a napkin, both are gross. Excuse yourself from the table and go the restroom to do those things.
13. When eating at someone’s home or a guest of someone at a restaurant, always thank the host and tell them how much you enjoyed it. At least say that you liked the dinner or mention a specific item that was particularly tasty, i.e. the dessert was great. Again, someone took time, energy, and expense to prepare the food, so show your appreciation.
I’ve been featured:
All good rules! And kids can really learn and use these at an early age. Thanks for linking it up this week!
Thank you! We’re working on it. There’s so much to teach.
What great rules!! And a great way to introduce them. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday! I hope you are having a great week!
Thanks! It was a fun dinner. I hope you’re having a great week too.
You’ve been featured on Saturday Show & Tell this week. Jodi, I realized I keep featuring you because I LOVE your ideas and creativity. Oh how I wish we lived closer, I’d so love to have you over for a play date and coffee! 🙂
Mackenzie
http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com
What a huge compliment, Mackenzie. I’m absolutely sure we’d be friends in the real world if we lived closer. I always love what you’ve got going on at your site, and we’ve got such similar interests and values. Hope you’re having a great week.
Oh…and I added your blog button to the post. Thanks for the feature!
I love this, Jodi!! This is precious and I may have to copy you!! My youngest son’s preschool class has “Tea with the Queen” one day at his school to wear their finest & practice manners. I need to do it at home, now! 🙂
So cute that preschool does this. That just makes me happy. I hope you have a lot of fun if you do it at home too. We enjoyed it. I appreciate you commenting.
I love this idea. I always tell my daughter that she is practicing at home just in case someone invites her to a beautiful ball, but I should just have one and surprise her 🙂