CLEVELAND — Now that we are, hopefully, entering the endemic phase of COVID, kids are going to get back to play dates and summer camp -- but many children are out of practice when it comes to proper etiquette in at friend's houses and public places.
In today's Mom Squad, 3News' Maureen Kyle talks to Colleen Harding who runs the Cleveland School of Etiquette on how to prepare your kids for social events.
“My perception of well-mannered is completely different than yours,” Harding says. “So, you have to think about other people because this is an olive branch of us. When we see kids that are really well-mannered and able to handle certain situations with ease, it demonstrates as a parent we have spent some time in teaching them what is expected.”
Harding talks about having your children say “hello” and “thank you for having me” to the parents as soon as they walk into their friend’s home. Another example: They should ask if they should remove their shoes or keep them on. These little things will leave a big impression on others.
She says teenagers are a little less receptive to learning etiquette after age 12, but it’s all how you phrase it.
“Because as soon as it becomes an authoritative approach, they don't want to know about it. But if you approach it as a, "Listen, you're going to be going to your friends’ houses, you're going to be going to restaurants with dances, you're going to be going here, going there and eventually one day you're going to go off to school, go off to college, you're going to go into the corporate arena, whatever you want to do, you're going to need to know this stuff and you're not going to want to feel foolish.”
To listen to all of Harding’s advice, you can download the “Mom Squad Pod” wherever you get your podcasts.
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated Mom Squad story on March 22, 2022.