keep up the good work!!!!!!

WOW!! I’ve missed a lot in the last day or two!! I was away helping my Gram with a couple of things around her house on the Cape and came back to find that you’d been HORRIBLY slammed by a very cowardly reader!!! I’ve got to say that if reader “Holy Sh*t” had any sense of what was decent they would know the old addage that if you don’t have anything nice to say…don’t say anything at all!!!

And if they have children (and I feel bad for their children if they do!) I would feel confident in saying that their kids are probably ill mannered, rude and impolite. Teaching your children the lessons that you are teaching them is one of the best things that you can do for them. Letting your children figure it out on their own is being a LAZY parent! It takes hard work and constant reminders to teach your children how to be a nice and lovely person. Anyone who says different is L A Z Y and probably rude themselves!!!

I do the exact same thing with my kids. Constantly with “and what do you say” “and what do you say”. We say “yes mommy or yes daddy” not “yeah”. Yeah is not a recognized word in our house either!! My almost 2 year old and 3 1/2 year old both say “Please”, “Thank You”, “May I”, etc. now without being reminded BECAUSE I’ve been reminding them since FOREVER.

I make them say “Have a nice day” when we leave any store or business, I make them give each other hugs and say “goodnight” and “i love you” to each other before naps and bedtime…every single day. There is no room for rudeness or even indifference in our household. You be kind and nice and polite…ALWAYS!!! If there’s a situation that calls for anything different…we deal with it as it comes up. But in everyday life…manners, decency and kindness to all are one of the things that comes first.

We live in a society of (and pardon my French) but we live in a society littered with A-HOLES!!! As best demonstrated by the horribly rude, insulting and quite frankly – ignorant comment by that reader. I’ve got to tell you I’m furious for you!! If that disturbed reader was really interested in backing up his/her comments then they wouldn’t have been so cowardly and not left a link to where they were writing from.

In the way you teach your children, please know that you are not alone my friend. Every single one of my Mommy-friends (and I hope this doesn’t sound strange but I have a lot of them) teaches their children the same lessons that you do.

I hope that you didn’t give that readers comments a SECOND of your time. THEY are disturbed.

YOWZA!

You rock the planet girlfriend.

Donna

It is not about not allowing them to be kids and I hardly think it will inhibit them from socializing properly with their age group – please! – it is about teaching them to be respectful and kind toward others. From here it sure seems Pea is just that. Keep up the good work.

Although I don’t mention it on my blog, I worked in the counseling field for 10 years before I was given the opportunity to stay at home. A piece of advice I would sometimes give others dealing with insensitive or uncaring feedback was to “wear the world as a loose garment.” It’s one of my favorites and a good reminder of how little weight needs to be afforded those who don’t have a clue, or a care how their words impact others.

Hope you’re having a great day!

P.S. I second Lulu and Milena and Erin etc.

Dear S__T: Haven’t seen you around here before and I can assure you that is has been no loss to me as a frequent visitor to Melissa’s Blog. In fact, though for all intents and purposes, this is an open forum, I think that those who visit here do so much the same way they visit a physical home. That is, with goodwill in our hearts, and proudly cloaked in our politeness and good manners. That is the way, I am happy to say, my mama trained me and I would hazard it is the way that most others who visit here have also been trained. We are no dogs. Should anyone be ashamed of themselves, I would have to point my finger directly at you. How shameful to speak as you did of a child, any child, in the first sentence of your horrendous message. It is what has prompted me to leave you this one. Witnessing the kind of sick mind that would even paint such an image begs the question about the kind of training you yourself must have received. Sadly, obviously, not a happy nor polite one. I am sorry for you that you think teaching manners to children is detrimental to them as well as archaic and an obstacle to their advancement. Should you have children of your own, I can only say, you do them and yourself a terrible disservice by believing this. If I believe I know what you are thinking, I would ask that you please keep it to yourself. If something impolite is in your head and nice thoughts do not dwell there, then please keep your vituperative, potty laced thoughts to yourself. Melissa’s children will advance well in this world with the kind of loving, careful parents that they have. Had you known anything at all about the author of this blog, this might be as apparent to you as it is to me. No one needs your unkind words, unkind manner, less than stellar thoughts and please, refrain form casting aspersions upon others. Should anyone need to worry about how they are perceived that would be you certainly and not Melissa. As my mother says, we project unto others what we have in ourselves. Quite frankly, I do not think what you have in you, worthy of anything much.

I have to say my step-father use to constantly correct my grammar and it made all the difference. He also led by example, using words correctly. To this day, I always use “good” and “well” properly. And I’m grateful for it.

I hate when I hear my 3 year-old echos me by saying “yeah” or “you guys”… it makes me crazy. Those kids really do learn by example so I better start saying “yes” and get rid of the “you guys” entirely.