I was in line at a check-out counter behind a young mother who was unloading her basket while her elementary age children were snooping around the candy and gum displays. The daughter, probably 10 or so, wore her down until the mother gave in to her pleas for mints. "But," the mother insisted, only get a small box, not that big one." So the little girl bounced over to the next aisle in search of a small box.
"Molly!" the mother called. "There's a small box over here." But the little girl didn't understand what her mother had said.
This is where it gets good.
Instead of yelling "What?!" to her mother, the girl said. "Ma'am?"
The mother repeated, and again the girl replied, "Ma'am?" She finally understood the third time around and returned to our aisle. I smiled a big ol' smile to myself.
How many children these days do you know who address their parents (and other adults) as Sir and Ma'am? Not too darn many, I'm here to tell you.
After she paid and was heading out I pulled the young mother aside and told her that I just had to compliment her on her daughter's manners, and that witnessing how well-behaved she is simply made my day.
She smiled a big ol' smile, too, thanked me, and said,"It's still going to be a long summer!"
I think I made her day, too.
Although I was raised to say sir and ma'am and never call any adult by their first name, I probably did not do so well with my own children.
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