Respect (Breaks out in song---R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me.)

Remember these rules from when you were in school?  Respect others.  Keep your hands and feet to yourself.  Don’t take things that don’t belong to you.  Don’t speak when being spoken to.

It’s these things that we learn in elementary school and strive hard to teach our children, yet as you look around, do you find that respect is lacking in so many areas?  How do we change this?  Are there areas where we as parents can improve and show respect even to our children?  Can we set the example?

Children are very observant and listen more often than we may think.  So when we do things that reflect respect for others, don’t be afraid to mention it.  For example: When holding the door open for someone you could say, “Did you see that?” or when waiting to speak with the teacher you could say “Notice, I waited for your teacher to finish speaking with that student before I started speaking?” 
Or maybe something like, “We need to make sure we put your homework on the
correct side of your folder to show the teacher and school that we respect the rules and appreciate that everything needs to be organized.”

Sometimes children may not realize why or how they need to do things.  Leading by example and showing respect to others will go a long way. 

(P.S.- Are you still singing? Just a, just a, just a little bit?)