The Gift of Good Manners

Every year at this time we get questions about graduation from high school seniors or their parents. Probably the most common one concerns gifts, invitations, and announcements. In our book PROM AND PARTY ETIQUETTE, Peggy and I included the following in a special box:
Begging for Gifts?
“Even if the school does not place a limit on [...]

One of my favorite activities at The Emily Post Institute is conducting our Children’s Train the Trainer program each year. I have the opportunity to work with parents, teachers, after school program coordinators, and etiquette professionals who want to teach etiquette to children. Participants learn about my developmentally based curriculum so they can teach programs [...]

Last week I had the opportunity to visit my nephew and his wife and their “so cute” 5-month-old son Carter. He joins the sixth generation along with Alexander, his “so cute” 3-year-old second cousin. One of the joys of having a family legacy and business is greeting each new generation. Maybe Carter and  Alexander [...]

I just had the amazing opportunity to take a three week bike ride from Washington, DC to Burlington, VT. The trip represents many hours on a bike spent thinking about things like biking etiquette. Often, I’m talking to adults about teaching children safe bike riding and connecting it to good manners. Safe practice is respectful [...]

Last week I received a request to do an interview on stroller etiquette. What a great topic! The interview gave me an opportunity to think through the issues that come up when people pushing strollers encounter tight spaces and crowded places and the manners that can help navigate them. It’s clear that there is etiquette [...]

A family from China (or Kenya, or India, or Lebanon, or Honduras)  has moved into your community and your child has formed a great friendship with one of the children who is in her class. Now she has been invited to her friend’s home for supper and is nervous because she doesn’t know what to [...]

Graduation is a special time of transition and accomplishment all wrapped up together.  As we approach graduation season – both high school and college – we receive many questions from graduates and their friends and families. People often ask us about the differences between invitations and announcements: the grads want to know when you send [...]

Meet our newest “etiquette experts” heading out to teach children, parents, and teachers essential social skills necessary to building a truly civil society. At our Train the Trainers – Children’s Program at the end of March seven vibrant, committed women (I’m still waiting for the first man to come to a training) completed the Emily [...]