Just a little respect

[Carrie Earls]

Bethany, my four-year-old, used to be really good about showing her respect for adults verbally by saying "yes, ma'am", "no, ma'am", "yes, sir", "no, sir", "thank you", "please", etc.

And now? I have to remind her all day long. Her sister Jessica (age 2, almost) is better about it!

Do I just need to be patient? Or am I expecting too much from a four-year-old?

What do you think? What do you/did you enforce in your home?

[41mama]

Um -- We try to do little reminders about "please" and "thank you" like if he asks and doesn't say please, we'll say "Oh, I thought I heard someone asking me for something, but I guess I didn't." Kind of joking, but really he has to ask nicely and say please. I also wonder if your daughter could be stressed out about the baby coming so regressing a little. The two year-old probably isn't as aware of what's going on. I'm sure you're doing all the reminders about how she's always going to be your baby and how special it is to be the oldest, but could this be part of it? Christie

[Carrie Earls]

That's an excellent point. I have thought about her being anxious about the arrival of the new baby, and this causing some regression in different areas of her behavior, but not in reference to her manners. It will be interesting to see how things change over the next six months or so, when she has had some time to adjust to the new baby.

We do give her reminders, and I guess we will just continue to do so until she begins doing better!

Thanks!

[TWTCommish]

With the little children in our family, if they simply says "I want that", they're told they cannot have it...sometimes we tell them to say please, other times we simply deny it...we do that later on when they're at the point where they know what they're supposed to say. Seems to work fine.

[Carrie Earls]

We have done the same with our daughter. She either asks us properly, or she is denied her request. Sometimes we will even set a timer for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and then give her a chance to ask again, properly. This often works. It still seems that we have gone backwards in this area, though. She did not use to need any reminders! I guess we just need to remain consistent and be patient.

[41mama]

Carrie! Are you back online? How are you feeling? How's that beautiful little boy of yours? Congrats and take care -- Christie

[Carrie Earls]

Yep, I'm back. Still recovering, but back! Thanks for asking, Christie.

Jonathan is great. He will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. I had a c-section this time, so he's actually doing a little better than I am. Very different recovery with a c-section! But I am doing well.

Anybody ever had a c-section that was "T'd"? They call it "T'd" because the cut is shaped like an upside down capital "T". Basically, they did a transverse cut, but then had to do a vertical cut as well in order to get him out.

I have a few questions for anyone who knows anything about this type c-section. Please let me know, and I'll fire away with my questions!--Carrie