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Manner # 7 - Napkin Do's

TO WIPE OR PAT YOUR MOUTH
Unfold your napkin half size if it is a large one and all the way if it is small. Put it on your lap where it should remain until you need to wipe your mouth.  It should be returned to your lap after wiping. When wiping your mouth, do NOT rub the napkin across your mouth.  You must pat your lips. Always wipe your mouth before you drink so that you will not leave any crumbs on your glass.  And never drink when you have food in your mouth, wait until you have swallowed.

MOMS TAKE & THE EXECUTION
Its been over a few weeks since I started implementing these manners.  And as usually it is a little lost on my 3 year old. I just sighed, but I am hopefully that if I lay the ground work someday it will all just miraculously happen.  But for my 5 year old, he has taken to it whole heartedly. He even surprises me sometimes.  I ask him to wipe his mouth, yes, I still have to tell him.  But I always kind of forget that I have instructed him to pat his mouth instead of wiping, and then he PATS his mouth.  I practically die of laughter (INSIDE, of course) and then look at his face which still has a TON of crumbs on it and sigh again.  Maybe this patting technique needs to be rethought. 

If you have kids like mine, their faces are so dirty sometime that even a chisel with hot rag scrub won't do the trick.  So a "Pat" seems a little silly.  But we'll try it and even though there was still food on his mouths after the pat, it was soooo cute to see Lukas do it.  I think we need to work on getting them totally clean before reaching the table and "patting" more frequently.  But forget about it if we are having spaghetti bolognese!