Please Mr. Please

Of all the words and phrases the twins are adding to their vocabularies each day, “please” is the word that pleases us most. Polite conversation from children seems to be on the decline, and many children are encouraged to address adults by their first name. While we accept this, Sandy and I would like to set our boys’ standard a little higher. Both of our boys are very receptive to learning and using polite words like please and thank you, and Benji has especially grasped the power of these pleasing words. He has found that an unsolicited “sorry Momma, Daddy” said for his minor transgressions quickly neutralizes a potentially stressful situation, and a “thank you, welcome” always brings approving smiles from adults. Most powerful is the “more please” which usually grants him an extra helping of whatever he wishes.