Learning Niceties

I've never thought much about how I acquired manners.  I am a reasonably nice person. I say "please" and "thank you," "excuse me" and "yes/no, sir/ma'am." But I never really considered the process that educated me into civilized society.

Watching Shepherd be shaped from a little caveman into a somewhat mannered little boy is a fascinating process.  Suffice it to say, manners don't come naturally to him, but he is making a concerted effort.  Here is an exchange we had yesterday afternoon after he picked up Lydia's blankets for me:

Me: Thank you, Shepherd.
Shep: Your welcome. (thinks for a moment and then comes over and shakes me hand) Nice to meetchya.

I guess he figure that while we were exchanging niceties, he'd better cover all of his bases.  I honestly don't know where he picked up "nice to meetchya," but I'm assuming he's been paying attention to social graces at church.

Right now Shepherd and our neighbor's little boy are playing outside.  They aren't being well mannered at all.  In fact, they are behaving more like their dogs with whom they are also playing than like anyone or thing you are ever likely to encounter at a tea party.  But that is okay.  He is two years old, so being civilized is a perfectly acceptable part-time gig.  As Shepherd so elegantly put it when I was wrestling him onto his changing table the other morning to get him dressed for the day, "I can't coperate right now."