On teaching manners
From It’s Not All Mary Poppins:
Nigel has all kinds of words, and we hear them a lot. All except ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Hmm. Now, I usually have more success with ‘please’, so I’ll often start with it. (Why is please easier? It’s all in the motivation. “Want this cookie? Say ‘please’!” You can see how it’s easier to get out a ‘please’ than a ‘thank you’ - he’s got that cookie stuffed into his mouth to the tonsils: why is further communication necessary?)
Yup. Exactly. I DO hear please, all day, every day. Thank you is still rare, but we work on it. Every freakin’ day.
