The Washington herald., 1915-10-01

1 nave long nau IL III Hihu ~ ho'e
a talk with our Mothers Club about
the bad manners of which our children
are so freely accused nowadays. we
hear a great deal about the boys rude
ness, the girls lack of consideration
for her elders, the pertness and for
wardness of the modern child. You
know all about it, for you have heard
it scores Of times.
1 want to say in the very beginning
of my talk that l do not agree with
all this Those who complain SO loud
ly fail to distinguish between changed
manner and bad manners. You know
We are all apt to think the old times
We're far better than these we are now
living in; every change seems deterlot
alton to many minds. What We must
try to realize. in approaching the dis
cussion of this topic, is that dinerent
times, different conditions, produce an
ferent manners. The old days of elab-
crate ceremony, "prancing politeness.
some one has irreverently called II,
have passed away. let us hope forever.
In their place We are living in time
Of simple, straightforward sincerity
that is developing love OF truth In us
impossible in an age of fiction ana
white lies"
All this is just preface to what
know YOU want to discuss now-noW 10
train your children to be polite with
out making little prigs out of them.
In my mail the other day came a let
ter from one of our Washington friends
asking advice on this subject. The
writer asked:
When a call or request is made to
child and he does not understand. what
is the best reply for him to make IN
your opinion? Some children reply re-
ply with coarse. long g-drawn-ont
What" Some object to Sir" as II
seems to have a flavor OF servillty.
.Maam?' however, does not sound that
way to me, when answering a woman.
Our bov. nine years old. dislikes TO say
Sir? and do not blame him much. we
do not want him to use What y child
away out in the street cannot call back
Beg pardon? The average boy de-
tests that much formality. Can you de-
vote an article to this question:?
/ was visiting in the home of some
charming people this summer-people
of genuine culture. in whose home true
politeness and consideration for others
were the rules of daily living. There
were two children. a boy of six and
girl Of three. The parents were train
ing those little ones, line upon line
and precept upon precept, in the
knowledge and practice OF good man.
ners On the afternoon OF my ARRIVAL
l went into the little sitting-room up
stairs where Teddy and his sister, Cher-
ry, were sitting on the floor looking at
a picture book. When l entered both
children scrambled to their feet and
remained standing until l was seated.
They did it easily, naturally. with no
self-consciousness, showing that 1t was
quite a matter of course with them.
Then they sQuatted down again and be-
came absorbed in the book.
Presently / made some remark to
Teddy. l asked him il he could read the
book in which he was so much inter-
ested. He did not realize I had spoken
to him until his mothers warning.
Teddy" brought it to his attention
Then he looked up at me Sweetly and
said, What, Aunt Chatty?" and waited
for me to repeat my question. 1t was
as naturally done as the getting up
had been. l noticed. too. that he an
swered in the same way when father or
mother called to him from another
room-"What, father" or. What.
mother" and to his sister, What.
Cherry" sometimes, but Oftener to her.
What is it," in gentle tones that
would have robbed even a simple
What OIL any Sounu VI dpi ~
was the tone more than the words
themselves that gave the true flavor of
politeness to what he said.
1 agree with the writer of our letter
that sir" is no longer a satisfactory
mode of address; suppose because it is
not in keeping in some mysterious way
with the spirit of our age. Yes. sir.
and No. sir" belong to an earlier time
when men finished their letters to each
other with the unvarying fotmula, Il
am. sir. your most obedient servant.
Neither is Beg pardon?" easy. as
the writer says, for a boy to call back
from the front yard or the street, and,
besides. like every other stereotyped
form Of speech. there is lack of spon-
taneity about it on the lips of child
that is not pleasing.
After ALL what we are seeking is to
teach our children that inner kindness
and consideration for the feelings and
comfort of others that make them po-
lite. no matter what the exact form OF
expression they use.