Please and Thank You Can Be First Toddler Words

  Our babies arrive as a blank slate; it is up to us to bring them up well. We are their teachers, their role models, and their biggest supporter. What we decide as parents helps shape who our children become as adults.

     It is so important to help prepare our children to be good, hardworking, responsible, honest adults.  We need to share our life lessons with them to help prepare them to be independent, upstanding citizens.

     We start early by teaching our children manners. They need to have good manners from the get go! They can have please and thank you as some of their first words, if we are willing to put in the time and effort to teach them to be polite.

     We begin by saying “please” when they want something, “may I have that please” even when they are not speaking yet. When they are playing and hand us a toy, we say “thank you.” When we give them something, a cup or a toy we tell them to say “thank you.” If we use the verbiage, they too, will learn to use the words that we give to them. They model themselves off of our behavior because that is what they see.

     Please and thank you are common courtesy and can become some of our children’s earliest language. When they first begin to speak, it may not sound like “please” or “thank you” but if they begin to make a noise at the appropriate time, you will know they understand and if you say the proper word to them, you are then reinforcing their good intentions.

     Once they begin to speak, gentle reminders are required at times but make sure that they know it is expected and if they don’t use please, then say “What is the magic word?” and they are sure to come up with it. If not remind them and have them use it. If we ask the question “Would you like more?” then we need to teach them “yes, please” or “no, thank you.” Small children understand more than we ever give them credit for but more importantly, if we have NO EXPECTATIONS then we only have ourselves to blame.

     Before you know it, it becomes so natural to them and it becomes such a proud successful moment for us. Enjoy the reactions from other adults when our two year old is using please and thank you when playing with other children or interacting with adults. And it becomes second nature to them because this is what they have been taught from the beginning.

      Our hard work and repetition really pays off. We need to have expectations from our children, they can’t just run amok. If we expect nothing, we get nothing.  It is never too late to have expectations from our children either. If they have not yet been taught to be polite to us, there is no time like the present to begin. If they are already older, they should definitely understand the concept more quickly. It’s very nice to be thanked when you serve a meal or buy something for someone. It is just COMMON COURTESY, to be thanked!!!