At the risk of sounding like an old bat who harps on about how “they didn’t do that in my day” I need to get something of my chest.

Consideration.

What on earth has happened to it?

Maybe it’s because I really needed some mum-time out  but when I did finally get it I just seemed to be faced with annoying inconsiderate people.

First there was the guy who was sat in my train carriage who had his music on so loud I could here every single lyric and s*** techno sound screaming at me through his headphones.

No, but I’m sorry but I don’t want to have your pathetic excuse for music forced upon me at 9am when all I want is a bit of peace.

Then there was the parents who thought they would plonk their toddler in front of a mind numbing loop of nursery rhymes in the restaurant at full whack just so they could enjoy their meal. Well done to you because I did not! Having Little Baby Bum forced upon me while I was trying to “enjoy” my Japanese brought back tragic memories of being stuck with a screaming toddler at 5am every morning. Needless to say I wolfed down my rice bowl and scarpered.

Not to mention all the guys who you were squished into close proximity with over summer, with their sweaty bodies, tops off and stinky beer in hand.

And the idiots who watch their You Tube videos on too loud in any public places.

ARGHHHHHHH!

Perhaps I am just turning into a grumpy old f*** but PLEASE! Can a mama on her mum’s day off just have a little bit of consideration? – not to mention everyone else!

When did everyone become so inconsiderate and annoying? Maybe I’m just premenstrual but as a parent who is always striving to teach consideration I can’t help but notice how much consideration seems to be ebbing away in our modern world.

And that makes me want to instill consideration even more. It’s so easy to teach consideration, and here’s how:

• Start with you. Children learn by mirroring so if you are considerate to others both inside and outside the home, they will soon get the idea. Of course there are times that we are tired and stressed out and the last thing we feel like being is considerate – hey! nobody’s perfect – but if we managed to do this even half of the time then we are off to good start.
• Teach them to think about other people, not just about themselves. Children can be pretty narcissistic, and so it’s important to teach them that the world doesn’t in fact revolve around them and that they have to think of others, not just about themselves.  I find talking about some of the struggles people across the world go through daily just to live really helps with this.
• Show your children how they can help others….simple things like helping to keep a door open for someone or helping someone to carry something can go along way.
• Teach them the importance of listening and not just rattling off what they want to say when the mood takes them. This is a tricky one and I find that instilling the art of turn taking when talking and listening really helps with this….a good one to practice at family meals!
• Instill manners in them – please and thank you go a long way in life. As does greeting people and looking people in the eye when talking to them. Children have a habit of barking demands at people but it’s up to us to teach them otherwise. When they bark a demand respond by letting them know what they should say instead and asking them to say it….after a while it will become second nature to them after much parroting.
• Teach them how to ask about others – a great way of doing this is putting in a phone call to those who you know are feeling unwell or perhaps fragile to see how they are doing. Put the call on loud speaker and encourage them to ask too.
• Encourage your children to think about how their actions might make others feel and to think before they act. This can be particularly difficult in the younger years when self control is still low, but as their brains develop they will gradually be more capable of doing so.
• Instill hope, positivity and a can do-attitude in them. I have to work hard on this one as I can be a bit of a defeatist sometimes, but teaching them not to moan or feel deflated in the face of adversity and that good things can come out of bad situations will help them become less self absorbed in any woes when the bad times roll round.

So you see, I’m hoping in my little corner of this world, this will at least offset the inconsideration of others we’ve been experiencing of late. Do you try and instill consideration in your children? And if so, what tips do you have to share on doing so? Please do leave a comment below. Talya xoxo

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