I conducted a little experiment over the holidays. My daughter and I were at a ballet performance and were sitting at the very end of a row. For people to get to their seats, they had to go past us. I was silently counting in my head how many people said "excuse me" to my daughter or I as they made their way in and out of their seats. Let's just say I could count on one hand. I wonder sometimes if being polite are manners some people need to relearn. One thing I have taught my kids from a very young age is to say please and thank you. I don't have too many pet peeves, but one of them is when I hold the door open for someone and they kind of blow past me without a nod of the head, a smile or a thank you! I'm so tempted to say, "you're welcome!" and at times I have. I don't hold open doors because I'm requiring a thank you, but it would be nice to at least be acknowledged. At my local library a few months ago, I held the door open for a lady coming and going, she gave no acknowledgement whatsoever that I did it once, much less twice!!! When I go anywhere, a restaurant, grocery store, wherever, I always say please and thank you to people that wait on me. My manners were drilled into me when I was growing up. We were taught to say please and thank you and to respect your elders. When eating, keep your elbows off the table and your napkin in your lap. One of my favorite columns to read in the paper is "Miss Manners." She dispenses advice to people on how to handle etiquette "issues." That column makes for some pretty good reading. In my opinion, good manners don't come naturally, they have to be taught!
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
Comments
Post a Comment