July 20, 2017

Manners Scenarios: Lesson #2- A Proper Handshake

My parents instilled in their 4 daughters the importance of giving a proper handshake.  The lesson stayed with me as one of the more important first impression social lessons.  Now I am passing this lesson along to our 7 and 9-year-old sons.  They are getting to the age where it’s nice to greet a male adult with a handshake.  For a woman, we are telling them to offer their hand if the woman offers hers first.

Proper HandshakeFor this scenario, we pretend like we are an adult greeting them (not just Mom or Dad).

1.”Hello,” I say, and outstretch my hand to them one at a time and look down shyly, not making eye contact.  I barely grip their hand, maybe even just touching a few of their fingers or giving it a loose squeeze instead of putting my hand fully into their hands.  We discuss the phrases “dead fish” and “wet noodle-” the kind of handshake I’ve given them.

2. Next, I say, “Hello,” looking into their eyes and smiling, offering a firm handshake, not too hard and not too soft.  At this age they especially like to practice extra firm handshakes- we stress that’s as bad as a dead fish handshake.

3.  We talk about the difference between the two.  Which one is friendlier?  Why?

Now we need to practice every week or so until they have it

Depending on their age, work on different manners with your kids by acting out the situations.  It’s really fun!

Stay tuned for more scenarios.  Here is the last lesson about interrupting. I would love to hear what you’ve done with your kids to work on manners!

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