lynnxa

can't promise that...........

Rosemary

I agree with you on the children's manners. When we were out painting the road surface for a religious procession I had a pocket full of sweets for the children. Some of them are quite shy so I dangled the sweets in front of me until they could resist no longer and came to take them, or should I say grab them like little animals and run off. One of the little boys saw me in my doorway on the day of the procession and me smiled at me SO sweetly that I offered him some sweets. His mum spotted me and held his hand in encouragement and brought him over to take the sweets. He snatched them like he had the previous evening and she smiled. No manners taught, no lack of manners noticed. Ah well.

Yes, you have me bang to rights - there is nothing I hate about being here, the things on my list are annoying to me but above all they are annoying to my neighbours too so I do not feel that I am being nasty.

Rosemary

brisca

Believe me, if you spent 5 minutes in the "pleasure" of his company, you'd have no hesitation in sending him packing!!

I am currently being subjected to Spanish music at about 1000 decibels!!
I have no objection to Spanish music per se (after all, I did choose to come and live in Spain, and some of it is really lovely)
However, at this volume - and often starting at 7 am and continuing almost non-stop until the early hours, it gets to be just a bit of a drag
Heck, I'm even beginning to know some of the words now!
Of course, it's not always "classical Spanish" music - sometimes we get treated to Spanish rap and punk. The joys are boundless.

Oh, I shouldn't be too harsh on the poor chap; after all he does sort of respect the siesta..............in as much as the music goes off, and the TV goes on - almost as loud.
Our TV doesn't work; but it doesn't matter because I can hear the news from here!

Do you still want him!?

brisca

[Yes, you have me bang to rights - there is nothing I hate about being here, the things on my list are annoying to me but above all they are annoying to my neighbours too so I do not feel that I am being nasty.]

Please don't think that I thought you were being nasty Rosemary!
I think I understood exactly where you were coming from; I just thought that a couple of people were a bit harsh in their responses - but perhaps only because they're not used to the normal content of your other posts??

It does make me wonder why some parents don't instil better manners into their children
From the people we know, most parents do prompt their children - but it's definitely different to the UK!
All part of our new experiences, eh?

I'm going to be doing some English classes with some of the village children this summer, so I was discussing with the Mayoress this morning the fact that I'm intending to use the sessions to produce some posters about the importance of putting litter in the bin............another one of my bug bears that I think will benefit everyone.
She was all for it, by the way!

lynnxa

maybe I don't want him after all!!

in any case..the place will be full of noisy SPANISH kids in a week or so

brisca

You mean your local kids haven't broken up yet!?
Ours all finished yesterday!
Soon, all the "out of towners" will be invading from Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Asturias...............and there'll be hordes of kids out screaming their heads off until 3 am

Oh, how I just love living on the Plaza in the summer.......................
Can't wait till we start our house build. This time next year, Rodney!

Rosemary

You might need to come up with a catchy phrase so that they remember to always use the bin. What about running a little competition to see if they can come up with their own ideas?

I took your posting as it was intented. No problem.

Rosemary

spaino

Maybe I am way off on this as I have no children although I have lots of neices whose parents sometimes think are my children! lol

My thinking on this is that * some * parents * nowadays * think it is solely up to schools to teach their children manners, this may be because in many cases both parents work and * seem to forget * some things because they have enough to do with work and the home. I think this is a totally wrong way of thinking, it is the parents responsibility to * make sure * their children are brought up with good manners and that schools are teaching them what they are supposed to be teaching them to the standards they want, manners included. Important word here is * responsibility *, no good saying... it is the schools fault, it is a parents duty to make sure their childrens education is what it is expected to be at school, at home and with the people they hang around with.

Rosemary

I have worked on parenting skills with so many families who thought that it was up to schools to teach 'everything' to their kids and could not understand that teaching manners start with little babes on the parents and grandparents laps with a game of handing things to and fro saying please and thank you (or ta). No big deal and so easy to do, and the child learns that it is a natuaral thing to do, not forced but taught as a game.

Rosemary

lynnxa

ours finished wednesday


the spanish 'guests' don't arrive til sunday

I have 4 x 12/13 year old boys coming on sunday.............and my favorite neighbour has one of their schoolmates staying with her

lynnxa

good idea

lynnxa

I remember that game...........with my kids!

brisca

I worked in a Primary school in the UK, in a very "good" area before we moved here.
The Reception class teacher said that in all her 30 something years teaching, she'd never come across children that started school not knowing how to eat with a knife and fork!! However, this was becoming more and more apparent in some cases, and she was also certain that some parents were actively abdicating their responsibilities towards their children; believing that it was the school's responsibilty to teach such skills!

When I was 21, I was an au pair for a delightful little 2 and a 1/2 year old boy who had Down's Syndrome.
The first day I went out shopping with him and his Mum, I was appalled and embarrassed that whenever he wanted something , he just pointed and said "Ugh!" like a little caveman!
Obviously, being that age is pretty frustrating anyway, but when you've got additional communication problems, all the more so.
Within 2 days of me working with him (which his parents hadn't bothered to do ) he was saying a beautifully clear "da" - "ta" was a bit difficult for him - along with the most irrestible grin
He was incredibly bright and motivated.............unlike his parents, who really just seemed to want him out of the way

spaino

This seems to be more and more the case, parents ignoring their responsibilites.... education, education, education.

Rosemary

I just adore working with children who have Downs Syndrome they are so resceptive and their smiles always look so cheeky and warm. They also have such a cheeky sense of humour as they get older.

Rosemary