Table manners

[prettycandles]

What table manners do you expect from a 3yo?

DD is very nearly 3. We expect her to sit at the table for as long as necessary, although this may mean taking coloring pencils or books if we are eating out.

Expect her to use appropriate cutlery if necessary, e.g. spoon and fork.

Expect her not to talk with mouth full or burp.

If she wants to spit something out she knows to use her napkin.

We expect her to talk at an appropriate volume, e.g. no loud singing in restaurants.

Think that's it really. Why do you ask?

To wait till everyone at the table has finished eating before moving on to the next course, or getting down from the table (within reason - i will let ds1 get down when he is finished if ds2 is eating particularly slowly)

to ask to be passed something if they can't reach it

And my boys know to ask to leave the table when they are finished.

DD really is "first at the table and last to leave" so it's us that sits there waiting for her!

Has anyone else noticed that people tend not to wait for everyone else to be served before starting to eat, or do we just have rude friends?

why do you ask, prettycandles, are you worried about your own child? or were you shocked by another child's behaviour? i'm just being nosy

I wouldn't start eating until everyone had their food. But if we are out with friends I will let the boys start once they have theirs as it takes much longer for them to eat it (esp ds2!).

I was wondering whether I'm expecting too much from my boy, but it's more-or-less the same as you two.

I also don't allow him to push food off his plate, if he dislikes something he is to leave it at the side of his plate, and if food falls off, he picks it up and puts it back. He is not allowed to play with the knife and fork, although I do cut him some slack over the spoon.

My two dd's are 6 and 4, and at the mo have terrible manners whilst at the table, when we are at home. Thankfully, when eating out, they are fine.

Sounds pretty normal to me pretycandles.

I think this is one of the reasons it's so important to eat with your kids as much as possible. They pick things up by watching you and without you having to repeatedly say "don't do x"
I also believe taking them to restaurants from a young age helps them with their table manners as they see others behaving in (hopefully!) the correct way.

I just have the feeling these days, that perhaps I'm squashing him a bit and I ought to lay off and let him be mucky.

I'm quite happy to take ds to a restaurant, or to eat anywhere for that matter. I really can't complain about his table-manners! I remember, when we were a few years older than ds is right now, my father used to tuck pamphlets under our arms to teach us to keep our elbows in while eating. (The last person to drop a pamphlet won.) And if we had friends over - well they just had to do it too.