Tip #007: Teach Table Manners In Infancy
Nothing in this world gets under my skin more than people who act like they have had no home training. As such, I’ve decided that there is no such thing as “too early” when it comes to teaching Avery some manners.
At the table, Melvin and I narrate to Avery as we eat. For instance, I’ll say, “Ok, now I cut a piece of sausage, put it in my mouth, chew with my mouth closed, stop talking because I have food in my mouth, then take a sip of my beverage as quietly as possible.” When I put his plate in front of him, I say to Avery, “Say ‘Thank you, Mommy’”. Then when he starts the point-and-grunt at something on the table, I say, “Say ‘Please pass me *insert item here*, Mommy’”.
Avery is usually very well behaved at the table, able to feed himself efficiently, neatly and quietly. Most times. But sometimes (a lot lately), he thinks food is toys and the table is his playground. When this happens, my first instinct is to yell, “Boy, have you lost your mind?!?!” complete with the head-spin/bop and arm-flail, but love and compassion fortunately always pervades (shooooot, it is not my goal to piss off my possibly only child who could possibly have power-of-attorney over me someday). So when he starts playing with his food, I take his plate and/or sippy cup away from him, tell him we do not play with food, wait a few minutes and if he acts like he wants to eat some more, I give him the plate and/or sippy cup back. Strike 2 calls for physical removal of Avery from his highchair and being placed away from the table. If he wants more food, I feed it to him.
Another thing that we’ve shown Avery recently is how to wipe his face with a napkin. It is so cute to watch him because often times, he’ll ask for a napkin once we’ve sat down at the table. He’ll use the napkin properly too, dabbing his face with it rather than wiping with it.
Awww, he’s such a proper gentlebaby 