Kids Can Be Great Hosts

It is so important for our children to be gracious hosts. We can give them a lifetime gift, if we encourage them and teach them to communicate with their guests in a gracious, hospitable manner now. Kids can be taught to be gracious hosts, and treating guests and friends in a warm and generous way will become second nature to them.

All right, I admit it -- even though I write about being a gracious host, my own kids have had moments that have made me cringe! However, these times just made me more determined that they would be gracious and learn to be a good host or hostess. Still Redonia knows if we have more persons than the dining room can accomodate she must be host to what is normally the younger children in the breakfast room. Often she has questioned when will she ever grow up and be allowed to sit in the dining room. She knows it does not have anything to do with her growing up rather a hostess is needed in both rooms.

Teach your children that if they get a drink and guests are present to offer the guests a drink. In fact, if the host child has friends over they should be attentive to all the friend's needs. When my children were younger I would have my children show their friends where the bathroom is, if the guests were over night guests it was my children's responsibility to show the guests where the bath towels, etc was kept. Children should be taught to be friendly and not selfish when guests are present. Children should be taught to prepare for guests arrival, too. They should be taught that a clean home is an inviting welcoming home.

I think it is most important that children be taught to be hospitable. It is much easier to learn to set the table, be conisderate, open a door with a smile, or use proper phone manners when a child is young. I have had many young adults express frustration to me because they didn't learn these simple things when they were younger. Though it is important to these young adults now it is difficult to remember simple social graces not taught at a young age.