FILL YOUR KINGDOM WITH MORE KINDNESS

Hello!  When we last checked in we let you know we were working on self-publishing a game.  Well, we are ready to unveil Kindness Kingdom!

Why did we undertake this challenge?  Out of necessity.  Last Christmas season we came up short in our quest to find the perfect manners game for little girls.  Nothing was out there that we liked – everything was too academic and sterile. Since we knew "courtesy starts at home" we started talking and plotting and found an artist WENDY and created this NEW adorable game for girls where Graceful Queen Geranium (“Queen Grace” for short) invites them to a tea party.

On the way to the party, girls make their way down a gemmed path in Kindness Kingdom that is fanciful, colorful, silly, and full of manners and etiquette education! The game board is a fairytale land of flowers, teacups, manners, humor, princesses, and fairies.  Here is a picture of the gameboard:

 We hope you’ll visit our site,  kindnesskingdom.com,  the very best way to learn more about the game and please spread the word! In this instance gossip is good!

Our game encourages empathy, develops important social skills, and nurtures a kindness of spirit that will help our players lead a more thoughtful life.  How fabulous is that?

This game’s creation was a labor of love for us and we are thrilled to invite all our friends to the tea party.  Let us know what you think.





HAS ABSENCE MADE YOUR HEART GROW FONDER?

Hello! Lest you think we have forgotten our blog - we haven't.  We have just been distracted by a fun adventure that is incredibly time consuming.  We are finalizing our children's manners game that we are self-publishing.  We cannot wait to share it with you!  So please be patient for just a little bit longer and we will be back in touch soon.

Sincerely,
The Ladies at MWM

MARVELOUS MANNERS RULES FOR CHILDREN

Looking for a quick cheat sheet on how what manners to teach your children?  Here is a great list to start you off.  Remember children will follow your lead.  Don't forget to set a good example.  Soon your children will possess a kindness of spirit that will make you beam with pride!

ONE SUCCESSFUL DINNER PARTY – ADD A DASH OF MUSIC

How many of us think that preparing dinner is like a science project? We have to use specific ingredients and exact measurements to get the required taste (although I will admit a pinch here and a dash there is more artsy). We have to know how the different spices and herbs interact with each other to create a wonderful aroma that will whet our appetite with anticipation and help us create an appealing visual (again this does give way to more of an artsy flare!) so our appetite is again tempted.

Is this not science? Being exact, demanding, intent on having a positive outcome to our experiment? Yes it is. We are altering the flavor of a food, the volume and texture as we add this and that, and yet we have an image in our heads of what the finished product will look like and taste like. This is not worked out on paper but through our senses – smell, sight, taste, feel and we can hear the adulation in our head? Oh, what a wonderful dinner party this will be, yes it will!

The next question is, what can I do to make this evening a success for my guests who all have different personalities and have had different events in their day? Music. Yes, music will guide them into the mood of the evening, which will be restful, interesting and quite relaxing. I will choose music that represents the mood I want at the end of the dinner.

Again, I turn to science. Music, science you say? And I say, yes. Music is like my dinner recipe. It has all the same elements, specific needs and demand exact implementation of all the ingredients. Music reflects the environment. The one thing science cannot do is duplicate the emotions and feeling that music gives to one’s soul. Call it what you want, but I call it a dinner party’s most important helping hand. Music is to the soul as good food is to the body. I am partial to instrumental music, without lyrics so conversation is easier to focus on. One should consider the menu you are presenting; if it is culturally-based then music with an associated ethical flare works very well. I will also recommend taking into consideration the ages/generation of your guests. Music by itself can evoke fond memories.

Choose music that is in the mood you want to be in at the end of your meal!

Posted by Esther for MaryCatherine.

NEED SOME SELF-ESTEEM? PRACTICE MARVELOUS MANNERS.

How do manners allow us as individuals to achieve our dreams and develop a wonderfully marvelous life? We know that there will always be people who are cruel and gossip just to make themselves feel good.  But those people are complete losers in the game of life. We want to be on the winning team in this game.  So surround yourself with positive people and a positive environment ... a place where we do not derive artificial and fleeting pleasure at the expense of others.

We should always be kind and dream big.  We should look at ourselves as the amazing beings that we are who have gifts, talents and the ability to practice amazing kindnesses toward others.

We will always be on the road of self discovery.  This road will create an amazing life while at the same time enabling us to make the world a kinder, gentler place for all of us.

We have to remember, it is not just present day life that give us a sense of self-esteem but also the ability to see where we have come from and how our experiences have caused us to grow as real people.  People persevere through challenges but not at the expense of others.  We practice the first rule of manners, treat others like you want to be treated.

We should always be looking forward and focus on all the wonderful possibilities that lie ahead.

There will always be ups and down in our lives but knowing the rules of the road (etiquette) make life easier to navigate; adhering to manners will make our journeys much easier, more fun and more successful.

Be kind to your neighbor and you will be rewarded, what a pure and simple statement.

Posted by Esther for MaryCatherine

LET'S PLAY BALL

Image Source - and to get tickets (Nationals)

Despite the beginning of baseball season, we won't be doing any "shortstopping."  And no, I am not talking about around the baseball diamond.  I am talking about around the dinner table. 


This occurs when someone asks for something to be passed to them (for example, the bread basket) and the person who begins to pass the requested item, or others along the way, use the requested item on its way around the table.  Bad form.


So, if someone asks you for the breadbasket, you should not take a roll for yourself before you have the basket begin its journey around the table. And if you are one of the people passing the bread basket along the route, you should not take a roll as you pass it along.  This is not nice.  Do not do it. It is considered rude. 

So what do you when someone's request for the breadbasket sparks your interest in a dinner roll?  Be marvelously well-mannered and politely ask for the breadbasket back. 

Healthy and Kind Life Lessons Missed

Some parents in the Orlando, Florida’s Edgewater school district are blowing a great opportunity to teach good manners and empathy.

The Golden rule is, treat other as you would like to be treated. One should try to put others first. Empathy, I believe is a taught skill, not a cognitive skill. Many of the parents in this school district are ignoring these two basic life skills and teaching their children the mantra “me first, me first, I do not care what you need, I want what I want.” This appears to me to be a good foundation for developing a bullying point of view in their children, how darn right selfish.

For those of you that have missed the story, a little girl with severe peanut allergies needs and requires a peanut free environment, and the school district had been requiring her classmates to rinse their mouths twice a day with water and to wash their hands and faces at school to avoid introducing nut residue into the classrooms. It is a life and death situation, not about hurt feelings. If it were your child, what would you want?

This child has the same rights as every child that has a disability. A child that needs a working dog; a child that needs wheelchair accessibility; a child that needs special education; a child that needs an interpreter. These are their rights because they belong to the community where it is law.

We as a society do alter our lives for others that require it because it is the right thing to do. We live in communities that should help and enrich all our lives not just the vocal unfeeling individuals.

Remember Hilary Clinton’s book, “It Takes a Village”? Why don’t these uncaring parents read it? Remember the old proverb, what go around, comes around? I wish no one, child or adult, harm and hardship but I do say have a kind heart.

Are these parents even thinking about the good that these simple requests will give their own children? It is healthy to wash your hand before and after eating; after using the powder room and several times during the day at random.

I would like to see every child be required to brush their teeth after lunch but since this will not happen in the schools around the country, learning to regularly rinse their mouth with water will add to their dental hygiene.

Both of these are healthy, personal habits to get into and will become lifelong habits that will serve them well. Moreover, empathy is a skill that will enrich their lives as they enter adulthood. To be able to teach two healthy physical habits and to teach some emotional growth seems like a winning combination to me.

See what happens when children do not know how to care for their teeth: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/163856/child_dies_for_lack_of_dental_care.html

Can you imagine the guilt these parents would carry around for the rest of their lives if this child died because they did not want their child to have rise their mouth and wash their hands; and when their children get older and realizes that they were part of this problem, they could be crippled emotionally for life. There is nothing as punishing as a guilty conscience.

This is one time that people must be marvelously well-mannered. It is not just a social issue but a life and death issue for a living, breathing human being who deserves the best that people can offer.

Let this community be the cream of the crop. Let it be marvelously kind and generous and they will all reap the reward of a clean conscience. They have the chance to make their community special and if they do not, no one else will.