10. Doing Unto Others…
“Empathy is #1 for me,” says Judy Davidds-Wright. While you might not initially make the connection between empathy and good manners, the two concepts go hand-in-hand. “Good manners are a great way for our young children to show care and respect for others,” she explains. “It is difficult for children under the age of 8 to truly grasp the concept of empathy, so by teaching them good manners you begin to instill the value of empathy.” Simply asking a child how they would like to be treated can help them begin to understand the concept of “do unto others.” Holly, a mother of two young children, recalls when her daughter had a small bouquet of flowers and said to a family friend, “These flowers are for me and for my family only.” Holly “explained that was rude, and [her daughter] was escorted outside to get special flowers for the friend that she thought she would like.” Holly used an example to help her daughter understand. “I asked her ‘how would you feel if I said, ‘Look, I have a cupcake,’ but then there wasn’t one for you. My daughter realized that would make her sad. We compared that scenario to the flower scenario.
