A lesson in manners...courtesy of the staff at Bunnings

As a parent, I try to be consistent when it comes to reinforcing the importance of manners.  To both little madam (who is now five) and little man (who is almost three).  Sometimes it pays off, and on these occasions I feel proud that my efforts are not in vain.  Unfortunately, there are occasions I wonder whether my constant reminders to, 'say please', or, 'say no thank you', are a waste of breath.  And the other day, during our exit from a large hardware store known as Bunnings Warehouse, I experienced one of these rather embarrassing occasions. 
       

Good old Bunnings Warehouse

You see Bunnings (as we have recently discovered) can quite often be an enjoyable place for children.  Not always, though (as we found during a recent stage during which we were required to visit the store almost weekly while we constructed a cubby house).  But, when visits aren't required weekly (or at least every other week) the place can be a lot of fun.  After all, with mini trolleys to push around, face painting (which happens at our local Bunnings store most weekends), a small playground, and regular goody handouts (courtesy of the endless array of friendly, tradesman-like staff that patrol the large store) what child wouldn't love a trip to Bunnings?  Oh, and with the promise of a delicious barbecued sausage on your way out the door, what parent wouldn't either?  

Little madam pushing her Bunnings trolley

 
 


Little man getting his face-painting fix

The other day our trip to Bunnings started out really well for little madam and little man.  After all, it began with them being handed a balloon on a stick on their way into the store.  Then, after a decent play at the playground, a milkshake from the cafeteria, and a dab of facepaint, we made our way (after paying for our purchases) to the exit.  Unfortunately, this is when things started to go a little pear...or perhaps balloon is a better term...shaped.  You see, the lovely balloons that were handed to little madam and little man on the way in, didn't respond well to being thrown up in the air repeatedly and, as a result, one after the other, they broke with a rather loud BANG!  Little man's went first.  And, by the time he'd recovered from the shock of losing his balloon, it was time for little madam's to suffer the same sad fate.  Unfortunately, this resulted in quite a few tears of distress from little madam.

 
Sadly for her, she was so caught up in her own world of pain, mourning the loss of her lovely balloon, she didn't notice the kind lady manning the exit offer little man a replacement gift in the form of a really cool plastic blow-up hammer.  And, I guess if she'd been able to settle down and pay attention, rather than responding to the kind lady's offer of the same cool gift, with her very rude and abrupt:  'No!  I want a balloon!' she might have been lucky enough to receive a blow-up hammer too. 
             
Instead, because I was totally mortified by her rudeness (not that she meant to be rude, she was just really upset) I apologised, declined the kind lady's offer from behind my glowing red face then left the store.  As you can imagine, after ushering little madam away, who by the time we arrived at the car realised what her rudeness had caused her to miss out on (as little man had unwrapped his awesome little gift by now), her distress over losing a balloon, turned into her world turning upside down because of what she'd missed out on. 

And, although our ears were a little worse for wear by the time we arrived home that day (thanks to the carry on we had to endure the WHOLE journey home) there is a positive end to this story.  I have noticed that since this day, little madam has been a  little less forgetful in the manners department, and I'm fairly certain the experience has had a lasting impact on them.  Well.  Time will tell, won't it?

Thanks, little madam, for...well...actually...I've got nothing to thank you for this time.   Sorry you missed out on the blow-up hammer, though.  Maybe next time?  Love you!