Manners.

There’s nothing I love more than giving a complement to a sprout and seeing the pure proud feeling on their face. In our kindergarten class, we’ve been working on manners… it’s not uncommon to hear ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘your welcome’ in the room. Hand a child a paper, and most likely, they’ll thank you. Yes, it’s rather pleasant.

The other day, we were announcing the child we’d selected as the most respectful, responsible, and safe student of the week. For the record, this is a program my school as implemented… I have mixed feelings about it, but the kids seem to love it and really look forward to the announcement.

Evelyn was chosen this week. She has really worked hard at making good choices and has emerged as a model student… truly worth recognition.

After the reveal, the class congratulated her with lots of applause and even a cheer. Finally, in an attempt to move us along and wrap up the celebration, Mrs. D. turned to Evelyn and said, “Congratulations, Evelyn.”

Evelyn, ever the polite little girl, replied, “You’re Welcome.”

Now, nobody thanked her, but she knew she was supposed to say something polite, and ‘You’re Welcome’ is one of the replies we give to be polite. I’m not sure what Miss Manners would say about her reply, but I think it was simply perfect.