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The Kitchen Table

And then there are some great kids...

17 years ago

that know how to behave. With all this talk about kids and parents that aren't parenting, I have to tell you about my new neighbors and the neighbors that used to be.

When the new folks moved in, I, being unable to get up the steps to their house, sent Dh over with cookies to welcome them. DH asked them to come to our house so that I could meet them. Now, asking unknown people into my home with all the very breakable and pricey collection of porcelin figurines sitting on every surface is a dangerous thing to do. Not so with the 5 year old boy and 2 1/2 year old girl who came over with their very nice parents. These 2 children never even seemed to see the dozens of fragile things sitting at their eye level, etc. They did not press their noses on or finger print the curio cabinets. They only picked up the few obvious toys in the house...some stuffed animals and a marble game. Their parents never had to say, don't touch that, etc.

One might think that these are children that have been beaten into behaving this way. Not so, at least in my opinion, because these are two of the friendliest ,most talkitive kids I have ever met. Within 2 minutes of coming in the door, the little girl climbed up on DH's lap to tell him all about the new shirt she had on, and the little boy was at my knee telling me about his first day at his new school. They won our hearts instantly. We are looking forward to summer when we can get to know them better.

The family that lived in that house before this one was a completely different story. Their one child, a boy, from age 5 when they moved in till age 10 when they moved out, any time that child was in my house you couldn't take your eyes off him. He picked things up and moved them from one place to another and would stand in front of the curios rubbing his hands and face all over the glass, etc. His mother never seemed to notice. Parenting seemed to escape her completely.

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Comments (5)

jannie
17 years ago
What a wonderful family! You are so fortunate. Hope they stay a long time. Glad you appreciate having good neighbors. I love my next door nieighbors. Their kids are grown, and the husband brings in my garbage cans, shovels my snow, that kind of thing. Hooray for Good Neighbors.
hayjud_mn
17 years ago
When I see families like that I get all choked up with awe. They are just so few and far between.

I wish I had known how to train our kids that way. I just kept correcting them all the time, instead of teaching them ahead of time how to behave in various situations. Our son and DDIL have always done that with their 2 boys. They are always a delight to have around. They have always been so use to being taught what is right, that when a new situation comes up and they aren't sure, they ask a parent what is the right way to do it. They love to learn new things.

It's so nice to have kind and enjoyable neighbors.
Thank you for sharing.
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cynic
17 years ago
Isn't that they way it SHOULD be? Nevertheless it's so nice to hear about the folks who KNOW how to PARENT. Kids are not inherently bad. However, I am beginning to believe parents are. Cherish those neighbors. Enjoy them. I must say, I've had some great kids in my neighborhood. Often changin though. I'm in a neighborhood that is often turning over. Some memorable kids in a good way and yes in a bad way too. But I hope you enjoy your new neighbors, and that they enjoy you too.
susie53_gw
17 years ago
There are some wonderful parents and kids out there. It is wonderful hearing about them..

Susie
gneegirl
17 years ago
I have a neighbor like your previous ones!! He is such a smart and imaginative child, but Mom doesn't set ANY limits. I don't like that part at all. He gives good hugs but I had to re-think some Christmas decorations because I just knew he would drop a few of the good ones. I know he will do well as an adult/career, but I wish Mom would teach him to respect others' property.

Happy you have new neighbors now - have fun with them this summer. Kids can keep ya young!!

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