Like a Lady...

No matter what I am do throughout my day, making it a point to watch people around me, is top on my list.  There is a question I asked myself day after day, upon seeing  young ladies in anything other, then their very best.  I am not sure when ' bearing it all ' became  practical attire for ladies {nevertheless wearing your night gown to the local grocery store}, even speaking in the manner of a cell mate, in public no less.  

What happened to the days when mothers told their daughters to "Act like a Lady"?  Where Manners were taught daily.  Grooming was part of every day life.  And self worth had great meaning.  As parents, was pass on what we are taught, to our children.  Little girls are taught proper manners, and boys are taught how to become a gentleman.  When watching people, I am saddened at some of what I see and what I hear. 

"If you don't stop, I'm going to punch you"....  "Oh, shut up already !!"  "Get up or I am going to beat your f***** *ss" .  My goodness.  I did butt in on these rants, as they were toward children.  With the child/children screaming, I simply asked "Is everything alright" when given the look of death, I added with deep concern "Sorry, I though the child was hurt and you might have need some assistance."    I would dare say, this parent needed a time out.

There was a time, as I was growing up, mothers would instill in their children the dos and don't s of life.  A timeless old rule;  it's called manners.  When taught Good Manners, children learn how to conduct themselves in public.  The teaching starts at home, With the parents. 

Sit up straight.  Comb your hair.  Take your elbows off the dining room table.  Chew with your mouth closed.  Don't talk back.  Stop popping your gum.  Don't slurp your soup.  Stop biting your nails.  Cross your legs at the ankles.  Fold your hands in your lap.  Change your clothes before you go outside.  Feet flat, firmly on the floor.  Do not interrupt an adult who is talking, you wait, then say excuse me, and wait.  Listen, before you speak.  Smile.  Say good morning.  Don't forget to say please.  Remember to say Thank You.  Wash your hands often.  No hitting at all what so ever.  Do not speak unless spoken too.  Put your napkin in your lap.  Blot your lips, not wipe.  Eat over the table, move into your food.  Stick your pinky out when holding a cup or glass.  Do not slurp your drink.  Ask for a straw in your glass.  Be sure you have on clean under garments.  Pull your shoulders back. Hold the door for the ladies.  Open the car door for your sisters.  Sit on the seat first, and gracefully glide across the seat.  Pick your head up.  Look the person speaking to you in their eyes, not their nose.  A gentleman pulls the chair out for the woman to sit first. 

Some might think these are a list of orders.  They are the reminders my mother would give us daily.  Tips for every day life and how we were expected to behave.  When ever our family was at an function, or gathering of my parents friends, the five of us children behaved accordingly.  Never forgetting what we were taught, and if one of us did step out of place, it was the glance of my mother... a simple look, that told us to get it together.  

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I even remember walking with books on our heads, learning balance... in heels or bear feet.  The length of the hallway was the catwalk, and turning gracefully ~ carefully, so not to knock off the books.  I enjoyed these times.  Learning the proper way to walk, talk, sit and carry myself.  I taught them to my daughters.  And hope to pass them down to my grand daughters.

  

It is never to late to look back, glance in the mirror; and remember.  Rekindle the Lady in you.  Have you lost some of Proper Lady Like Behavior?  There are plenty of times, I can admit, I have.  There is no time like the present, to change that.  Just take a look at the now Duchess of Cambridge Cathrine Elizabeth, a 'commoner ' before her Royal marriage; she is the picture of grace, taught to her by her parents as a child.  Another excellent role model is Robert Patterson, a pure gentlemen to the core, and long after the 1800's; also taught to him by his parents and as a child.  

The moral to my blog... What happened to being a lady?  Demanding respect through the way we act.  I would love to see women turn things around, and bring back the days were women are treated like Queens; but it has to start with you.  Making a change starts at home, it's never to late to change yourself and teach your children.  I would like to challenge women everywhere, bring forth your best foot first, bring out the lady ~ and watch to see what happens.  Report back to me and let me know how it made you feel and, if people treated you differently.

Good day Ladies...