As the saying goes, the children are our future. As parents we feel the need to guide our children in the right direction so that they can live fulfilled, happy and successful lives. Unlike us, however, our children are growing up surrounded by technology. It’s an integral part of our everyday lives, and nobody knows what it will be like when our kids are our age.

But with this awesome new technology, kids are less apt to understanding the importance of proper manners and etiquette in public and even at home. If we want to guarantee a bright future for our children, we need to prepare them to be civilized and mature–even at an early age.

Our children model a lot of our behaviors, as we are the ones they see nearly every day for about the first eighteen years of their lives. So in order to set a good example, we must first show them what proper manners are.

It is vital for our kids to know that manners are a demonstration of respect for another person. Even if you don’t know someone, being polite and respectful with them goes a long way. From early on, teach your kids to say “please” and “thank you.” Not only is it polite, but it is also incredibly cute at a very young age. Also teach them to say “you’re welcome” to someone who thanks them. If walking through a crowded space and they accidentally run into somebody, teach them to say “excuse me.” They should also know better not to roll their eyes, make rude gestures or faces or scoff at people.

Etiquette seems to be dying out, as more and more families get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday lives. Teaching your kids proper etiquette at the dinner table–even if it’s fast food you’re serving up–will help set them up for those moments where you won’t be around to correct them. Show them not to put their elbows on the table, or reach over other people to grab condiments. If you children have phones, make sure they put them on silent–not vibrate–and not touch them until mealtime is over.

This falls back once again on the idea of respect. While it may seem old fashioned, you wouldn’t want your child acting this way in front of a potential boyfriend or girlfriend’s parents.

The most important thing we need to teach our children is how to work with others. No matter what work your child goes into when he or she grows up, every industry requires working with people. Teach them to be sensitive to other’s feelings, and that their actions will affect others. When they’re younger, watch them run around on the church playground or in a park with other children. That way they will learn how to communicate with other people and still be polite.

When teaching etiquette to our children, we must remember to let them make mistakes. Anyone will say the biggest lessons they’ve learned are a result of their making mistakes. When your child does mess up, provide them constructive feedback that will help them realize how to avoid making the same mistake again. Don’t be harsh or overly critical; in fact, help them figure out what it is they did wrong rather than just telling them. It will build their self-awareness and ability to think critically.

So by teaching our kids proper manners, we are preparing them for the big, scary “real world” and ensuring that we have a brighter future.

Remember Sparkplug?  Well, we still have him and Truett loves him but he really needed a gentle horse that he could ride all by himself right now.  We bought an old horse named Smokey who is super gentle and gets Truett perfectly.  I’m not particularly fond of gray colored horses but Truett loves him and that’s all that matters.  He goes everywhere on him and rides every day.  I can’t wait to take his first ‘cowboy works’ photos!

Man I just love that kiddo.  He has such a sense of pride when riding him and I LOVE the way he watches me to see if I’m watching him.  He shows off by turning Smokey in circles and backing him up.  4 year olds rock!

Here he is JUST getting to sit in it for the first time.

Here he’s like, “I’m out of gas Mom!”  LOL…oh man,  I was cracking up.

I think he was trying to look like his car!!! LOL  Too cute. He had so much fun with it.

“Mom, I need to crap”.  Ahhh, such an accomplishment to finally get a three year old to understand potty training but teaching #2 or the poop seems to be a daunting task.  So for now, ‘taking a crap’ will have to do.

And did I mention that throwing everything he can in the toilets is one of his favorite hobbies.  Lovely isn’t it?  Not to mention the constant dinosaur growling ALL.THE.TIME.

Despite his tiny terror ways, he melts my heart.  His frowning face, saying “You make me sad”, when I have to get on to him just turns me into fluff.  His 5 minute morning cuddles and the hands on hip poses make it all worth it.

You cannot get that boy around any kind of horse, bull, cow, anything or else he puts on a show!  Within just a few minutes, the bronc ridin’ cowpoke was yeehawin’ around the store like he was competing for a truckload of toys or something!

I wish I had a video camera at the time, but since I switched purses, I didn’t. It was the cutest thing ever, facial expressions and all.  A couple walked in during his performance and said, “Wow, I didn’t know we’d get to see a rodeo!”

Disney Family.com is offering an “On the Road With Family.com” kit to one lucky reader! The kit promises to keep children comfortably entertained during car or plane trips this summer and will put an end to the dreaded “Are we there yet?” questions while allowing families to share their favorite family vacation destinations.

The travel kit includes a plush kid size travel pillow, a copy of Dr. Seuss’s There’s a Map in My Lap, a travel game kit, notepad and pen and adorable tote bag (a $30 value). Please share your favorite family vacation destination spot in our comment section for a chance to win; a winner will be chosen at random.

Also, make sure to visit Disney Family.com Travel to help with all your vacation planning needs as the site provides a unique resource for parents providing a combination of expert reviews, parent recommendations, and age-appropriate points of interest for family-friendly destinations on any budget.

One of the many great features on the site is a list of “Cities on a Shoestring” where parents can find inexpensive or free activities to do in cities around the country. The site also includes tips for hassle free air travel, videos of popular family destinations, and safety travel tips.

HOW TO ENTER

You can enter the contest by leaving a comment about your favorite family vacation destination spot!

It’s that simple!  Ends on July 3rd!

This has been made possible via the lovely ladies at Mom Generations;)

We went to a ranch rodeo Saturday, shopped, ate at Logan’s and then went home. Sunday, we had family over which was a highlight to my weekend. Getting to see my nephew and his girlfriend, who have a strong, beautiful baby girl who now weighs 4lbs.  Wish I could have held her but she’s still in the hospital.  We ate and then bought flowers to put at the grave of my husband’s mother.  After that, we sat outside and enjoyed the day watching little man play and the sprinkler going back and forth.

I would love to hear your weekend was regardless of whether or not you have a mother’s day story;)

There are two categories: 3mths – 2 years and 2 years to 6 years. Clearly little man would be in the 2-6yr category and I have every intention on entering his photo and I hope you do the same. You never know right??

I’ve browsed a bunch of the photos and there are some cute kids now!  I would hate to be the judges!  I haven’t decided which photo to submit yet but here’s one I took this weekend.  Little man was filthy, his  hat got all wet and lost it’s crease and this photo reflects a moment of sweetness before his attempt at a tantrum.

Let me know if you enter guys!  And good luck to those of you do give it a go!

I have a terrible memory but I truly don’t recall ever having a swing set or even a little swing for that matter, I could be wrong though and I’m sure my mom will call to set me straight if that’s the case.  What I do remember is having “how many huge ice cubes can you swallow” contest with my brother and playing in a laundry basket.  What?  It was fun stuff, then….and the ice, well….we were dorks obviously.  One of the cool things we did do, was climb this old tree and pretend it was our club house.  We made do with what we had and it worked.  Can you imagine how cool our clubhouse would have been with one of these swing sets?? GAH!

Now imagine being an only child.  No, little man isn’t an only child but he is 10yrs younger than his older brother which means he doesn’t have anyone to play with.  I mean come on, they’re teenagers and the last thing they want to do is play toddler games.

We have a nice home now on a ranch that we plan to be at for a long time.  It would be nice to have this in our backyard for our little man so that he’s not roaming about where the rattlesnakes are.  It will be even cooler to have all the family over and see all the nieces and nephews playing together with little man!  What a way to bring everyone together huh:)

So if you’re wondering why the heck I’m writing this, it’s because I’m entering myself into Dad’s Blogs giveaway.  I rarely do this and 100% don’t think I’ll win but why not try right?  It only took 10 minutes to write and could potentially make my little man very happy for a very long time!

Good luck to anyone who enters.  I hope that someone deserving wins because it’s an awesome prize!