Knowing how to act and above all, having Manners is so important and especially manners in public places. There is not much that is less desirable than a simple stroll in a store on a Saturday afternoon with screaming little ones tearing across your grocery cart’s path as a result you have to jolt to a stop for fear of hitting the child as they rush to play in the clothing racks or ride the toys and bikes down the isles and have a climb the bouncy balls. It seems like it is more a zoo than a store. As a result, it makes the environment for the child and adult shoppers not only feel tense and hectic but perilous and making the employees become a referee instead of being able to simply do their job.
Manners in Public Places
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Public Places Require Good Manners
Businesses are not playgrounds. And boys and girls need to treat them as them with respect. Children should at all times stay close to their parents in businesses using “inside voices” and treating others respectfully, including their parents. This is not just because to do otherwise is rude, it is also not safe.
Manners For Safety Sake
There are people that would love to grab a child all alone in a store and have done so. The child could hurt themselves or someone else. They could run into an elderly person and make them fall or could break something on the shelves. It is not the store’s job to watch our little ones, it is our job.
So, if they cannot stay with us nicely
- They must ride in a cart until they learn to.
- They must hold a hand of an adult nicely.
This may not be a really popular post, but let’s face it, parents, little ones need to know how to conduct themselves in public that means at stores, restaurants, museums, etc.
Special Circumstances For Special Needs
I know there are circumstances where we have special needs children and I am not talking about them at all. What we are talking about able little ones that need to learn to have respect for both their parents and others. This is being a good neighbor and a good witness.
What The Bible Says About Manners
Let’s see What God says about how children should conduct themselves and how he feels about these little ones.
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Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. Proverbs 20:11 KJV
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Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Colossians 3:20 ESV
- Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1 NIV
- It is a true saying that if a man wants to be a pastora] he has a good ambition. 2 For a pastor must be a good man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must have only one wife, and he must be hard working and thoughtful, orderly, and full of good deeds. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be a good Bible teacher. 3 He must not be a drinker or quarrelsome, but he must be gentle and kind and not be one who loves money. 4 He must have a well-behaved family, with children who obey quickly and quietly. 5 For if a man can’t make his own little family behave, how can he help the whole church? 1 Timothy 3:1-16 TLB
- “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16 NIV
- For These Commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way of life Proverbs 6:23 NIV
- “My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live?” (Hebrews 12:5 b-9 The Message).
- Children’s Children are a crown to the aged and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6 NIV
Knowledge is Power
Knowledge is truly power and to give our children the gift of knowledge of manners in public places is a blessing to them. Think of how much better it is to be prepared, to know what to expect in a situation and what is expected of us. And likewise, as an adult being prepared for something makes me so much more at peace when I must face it at last. How much more important is it for these little ones? Let’s gift our children and empower them for success.
Before You Go, Check Out These Other Articles”
- Cottage Charm Part 1 – Responding To Invitations
- Cottage Charm Part 2 Please And Thank You
- Cottage Charm Part 3 Excuse Me
- Cottage Charm Part 4 Manners In Public Places (You Are Here)
- Cottage Charm 5 Introductions
- Cottage Charm Part 6 Playtime Manners
- Cottage Charm Part 7 Taking A Compliment
- Cottage Charm Part 8 Table Manners
- House Guests Etiquette Cottage Charm 9
Note:
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
