The most beautifully behaved child ever

[Groundsgirl]

I'm not sure if this is the proper place for this post. Please move it if there is somewhere more appropriate.

I was out at lunch with a friend this afternoon when I encountered her. The mythical polite-to-the-teeth child!! I have often heard that such children existed. However, in my experiences around my town those children must not be in public much.

I went to the ladies soon after we were sat down. A little girl of about 7 or 8 came in after me and nodded hello. As I was washing my hands, we had a bit of a conversation.

PC (polite child): Good afternoon, Ma'am. How are you today?
Me: I'm just fine. And yourself?
PC: I'm doing great. This is my favourite place to eat.
Me: I like this restaurant too.

She then holds the door open for me as I leave. Then she says, "I hope you enjoy your lunch. Have a nice day."

Interesting overall. She was rather chatty to a stranger but oh so lovely and polite. She was seated near us with her grandfather.  made a point to comment to him about what lovely manners this little girl had. He beamed. The child was an absolute delight to hear talking with the waitstaff about her order and conversing with her grandfather (Yes, I freely admit that I am a horrible horrible eavesdropper in restaurants. Occupational hazard.)

Gave me a smile for the day.

[Cellardoor14]

That is just beautiful!

I recently this exchange with a two 1/2 at the nursery where I teach:

Child: "'Cuse what's your name?"

Me: I'm Cellardoor, what's your name?"

Child: "Joseph."

Me: "And how are you today, Joseph?"

Child: "Fine, how are you, Miss Cellardoor?"

Me: "Very well, thank you. I'm glad we've introduced ourselves."

Child: "Me too.  Bye-bye Miss Cellardoor." (Runs off for snack.)

That brighten my day 

[scotcat]

Young girl in supermarket

"Would you like to go to the checkout? I'm just waiting here for my Mum while she goes to get something"

Grateful Scotcat took Mum's place in queue.

[MissRose]

awwwww nice stories

i have one to add -

I was at a 7-11 store getting a slurpee and snacks, and i was ready to leave when a grandmother & her grandson who was about 4  or 5 years old  were in the store at the same time as me, and she was paying for her stuff, the grandmother said to the boy to go to the car parked right outside with his mother there.  The kid said i wanna hold the door open for people.  My things were rang up and i paid for them then the little boy held the door for me, and i did thank the child for doing so.   

[CocoCamm]

I was at the laundomat earlier this week and all but 3 out of 4 kids there were running amuck. But that one little girl was so cute and well behaved I swear if I didnt have eyes I never would have known she was there. I so wanted to compliment mom but I wasnt sure how to do so without at the same time insulting the parents of the brats.

[MsEva]

I was at the laundomat earlier this week and all but 3 out of 4 kids there were running amuck. But that one little girl was so cute and well behaved I swear if I didnt have eyes I never would have known she was there. I so wanted to compliment mom but I wasnt sure how to do so without at the same time insulting the parents of the brats.

I think that you could have complimented her on how well behaved her child was and just not mention the other children. If the other parents felt insulted, well, that's not your problem. Maybe it would have brought something to their attention that they have been ignoring.

[Scritzy]

I recall a couple of years ago when Chip and I were at the beach for the Thanksgiving holidays. We were waiting at a restaurant (loooooooong wait) and there were families there with children. One little girl was getting particularly restless and started running all over jumping onto different couches, etc. Another girl who seemed a couple years older went to the restless one and said, "Would you like to play checkers with me?" (The restaurant has game tables in the waiting room, right beside the chairs and couches.) She sat with the smaller girl and set up the checkerboard, patiently explaining how to play and distracting the little one. Shortly the little one's family was called and the older child went back to sit with her parents.

Later I saw the older child's parents in the restaurant, and I went over to them and told them how impressed I was at the child's manners and her ability to calm the smaller child. The daughter smiled at me and the mother beamed and said, "Why thank you! But she does have her moments …" I said, "Today she had some very good moments."

And I must add that a teenage boy held the door open for me at Outback the other night. When I thanked him, he said, "You're welcome, ma'am." Wow.

There is hope for humanity.

[Mammavan]

We went to a lovely brunch this weekend.  It's in an old inn and very charming, not what I would consider a "family-type" restaurant, but because the brunch is pretty reasonable ($22), there were a lot of family groups.  I would estimate that one out of every two or three tables had smalll children.  In the two hours we were there, I saw absolutely no poor behaviour.  Although it was a buffet, no children were scampering around; they walked decorously to and from the room in which the buffet was situation, closely accompanied by their adult.  When thrilling narratives sometimes caused little voices to rise in excitement, they were quickly brought back to an appropriate level.  The one very small child who began to cry was immediately whisked from the room by his father. 

Everyone there seemed to be having a very enjoyable meal, the children themselves no less than anyone else.

[Katharine]

I was at DisneyWorld not to long ago and a young boy maybe 7 was sort of swinging his arms around being bored and he hit me lightly. He immediately apologized and stopped doing it. I was impressed.

[kherbert05]

I was at the laundromat earlier this week and all but 3 out of 4 kids there were running amuck. But that one little girl was so cute and well behaved I swear if I didnt have eyes I never would have known she was there. I so wanted to compliment mom but I wasnt sure how to do so without at the same time insulting the parents of the brats.

 I had to laugh at your post. According to our book study this year - complementing the good child to the parents is exactly what you should do to change the bad parents actions.

For example Johnny, Sammy, and Terry are always late because their Moms don't want to get up to get them to school. (Yes we have K, 1, 2 grade parents that inform us that 7:40 is to early a starting time and they want to sleep in. Since the kids are too young to get themselves up and walk across the street - the kids are often 2 hours late.) Instead of sending a newsletter home saying Kids must be on time - excessive and patterned tardies will be reported to the proper authorities. You thank the other parents for getting their kids to school on time, and emphasise the important lessons done earlier in the day. This will (according to the author) make the slacker parents feel guilty.

We disagreed because the author was assuming the slacker parents would read the news letter. Since the 3 sets of emergency forms that have been sent home, the notices about parent/teacher conference (Fall), notices about Possible retention conferences (January), are still crumbled up in the bottom of the child's back pack - We are betting the newsletter would enter that back hole also.

[Joannie81]

It's always great to see a well behaved child.  The other day, my dd and I went to a restaurant.  The service wasn't so great, but the child behind me was.  Towards the end of the meal, I was looking around for my server and suddenly noticed the child.  I didn't even know she was there!

[ccnumber4]

These are great stories!  I am annoyed that I can't seem to come up with my own right now.  Surely there must be SOME well-behaved kids in my town!

[IndianInlaw]

I have a kindergartener who thanks me EVERY time she (and Dad) crosses at my corner.

The other day, she forgot what she was supposed to say and after some confusion, said "Have a nice day!".

[Clara Bow]

We went to a birthday party last weekend for a friend of my son's. The kids had a ball and everyone was pretty good (as good as any kid can be tanked up on chips and cupcakes!) but one kid really stuck out in my mind.
When they had the pinata and all the candy finally fell out an eight year old boy was scooping up candy and sharing it out into the bags the smaller kids had. The smaller kids (son included) were a little confused by what was going on and intimidated about getting in the middle of the big kids. So this boy was nice enough to give the candy he was able to get to the little ones so they wouldn't miss out.
I complimented his parents profusely on his good behavior.

[hobish]

There are several times i have been amazed at how good kids are at baseball games.

One that stands out is when we had seats in the upper level. The couple behind us had five kids with them, and they all looked pretty young. They were so good throughout the whole game. The two youngest fell asleep, and one of the older ones took his jacket off & layed it on one of the littler ones. I don't even like kids & thought it was just so sweet.
When we were leaving i did what i now know was kind of annoying & asked, "are they all yours?" but then told them i'd never seen a group of kids who were so well behaved, and that it was really nice to sit near them. The parents said it was because they were tired, but the looks on their faces said they were proud.

I like this thread ... i easily forget that not all kids are sticky little brats.