Yes - here I am again with the ongoing battle of trying to get my kids to be friendly. We just took a short walk and saw three people I knew.
Would my kids say hello? NO!
Would my kids look them in the eye? NO!
Did my kids try to hide behind each other? YES!
Did my kids say, "Nice to meet you!"? NO!
Was I horribly embarassed? YES! YES! YES!
But take them to the grocery store and I can't get them to stop taking to people. They talk to anyone and everyone. Then, as soon as I see someone I know, I can't get them to say a word.
When Shiloh was 18 months old, it was kind of cute ... hiding in my neck and/or behind my hair.
But now, she's almost 5 1/2 years old and it's just not cute anymore, it's downright rude.
In fact, I feel terribly frustrated their horrible behavior, not to mention miserably embarassed.
What to do?... How to teach courtesy?...
3 comments:
Oh, yes, the joys of parenthood! I often wonder when in the middle of similar battles whether it is up to me or up to my son on when the behavior will change. Do I totally back off or do I press for compliance? Even after a struggle is no longer an issue I wonder - was it me or did he just decide, or finally undersand on a different level, to do what he needed to do. What's amazing is the variety of issues that get to each of us and how different every child is from each other. Good luck with this conundrum.
I would try role playing as a game at home. It might help. It might not. You could try it at home with a friend who has agreed to let you practice on her. It might take some disciplining during practice so that gets tricky. Press on, friend!
My daughter is shy and I can relate to how you feel! Some friends of ours have required their shy one to at least look people in the eye and smile. They will say, "friendly smile," and their daughter does the quickest smile and then goes right back to a straight face! It is kind of comical, but I think they are on the right track of helping her learn to be polite even though she feels shy. We have started saying, "friendly smile" to our daughter now and it is actually helping a bit! :-)
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