Do not allow children to tease, nor, having once refused on good and sufficient ground, suffer your consent to be gained by siege. Make your refusal final, but do not refuse thoughtlessly, or for mere caprice. The wishes of a child are as real to him as those of grown people are to them.
Manner of Address.
Rudeness and abruptness must never be tolerated in the manners of a child. “Yes,” and “no,” in reply, and “what?” in interrogatory, are uncouth and disagreeable in sound. “Yes, sir,” “Yes, ma’am,” and “What, ma’am,” are much better substituted, but even these are open to criticism. English etiquette relegates “Sir” and “Ma’am” to the use of servants, save in case of addressing the higher nobility when “Sir” is sometimes used.
THE NURSERY.
The better and more graceful etiquette of the day would teach a child to say, “Yes, mamma,” “No, papa;” or a student at school to address the teachers as, “Yes, Prof. Stanley,” “No, Miss Livingstone.” If they fail to understand a remark, a quick, “Beg pardon,” or, “I beg your pardon,” or even, “I did not understand,” can soon be taught to even childish lips and never be forgotten as they advance to maturity. The use of “Please,” and “Thank you,” or, “I thank you,” (never the thankless “Thanks,”) should be early impressed upon their minds.
Teach them never to speak of grown people without prefixing “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Miss,” to their name. It is very objectionable for a child to fall into the habit of saying “Brown did so and so,” instead of, “Mr. Brown, etc.” Insist, too, that at school they shall never say “Teacher,” but address their preceptor by his proper name.
Impress upon children that they must answer politely when spoken to, but strictly repress any tendency on their part toward questioning visitors at the house. Here let it be added, for the benefit of their elders, that nothing can be a surer evidence of ill-breeding than for a grown person to question a child in regard to his family affairs.
Interrupting Conversation.
Never permit children to interrupt the conversation of their elders, and see, as a preparation for this, that among the little ones themselves, one who has a story to tell is permitted to finish without an impatient brother or sister breaking in with his, or her, version of the same tale. See that each has his turn and many of the noisy disagreements of the playroom will thus be done away with.