Tea at Trianon: Etiquette Tips for Parents

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Etiquette Tips for Parents

The Emily Post website offers some simple, practical guidelines for parents in the training of well-mannered children. I think that in this dangerous world we tend to be so protective of our children that there is a danger of them becoming unsocialized. There must be a way to teach our little ones how to be safe while encouraging them to learn polite interaction with friends, relatives, and people at church. Actually, the knowledge of etiquette involves the comprehension of boundaries, and being aware of boundaries, your own and other people's, is a way to teach safety, as well as respect. Share

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: I loved these tips. Thank you so much for posting them. They are practical and stress the truly important things we need to teach our kids.; February 12, 2007 at 11:45:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: I hammer away at this constantly to parents whose children are in my care,but they do not seem to grasp the importance of teaching children
boundaries. I tell them the prisons are full of people who never learned
boundaries. If asked to define in one word what is wrong with our society
today I would say there are no'Boundaries'.; February 12, 2007 at 9:21:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Lylia and Alice. Boundaries are so necessary and really not that difficult to establish - just a few simple rules....; February 12, 2007 at 9:59:00 PM EST