Think Before you Speak

My mother drilled that into my head as a young girl.  Probably because my mouth often went flapping without any thought behind it.  Of course she was one to talk.  But anyway, back to this parent.  So I try to get the kids to think before they speak, mostly because I don't want to sit here for 10 minutes while they try to get out a sentence. But also because I want them to think about how other people would feel about what they say.  For instance after I kiss them I don't really enjoy hearing, "Ewww your breath stinks." Even if it is true, it just totally ruined the moment. 

I think I might also start adding to "think before you speak".  And that would be "Get to the point."  This one I figured out all by my lonesome.  Apparently I created quite the argument because I was trying share an example instead of getting right to the point.  I figure this will be helpful when kids ask you questions out of left field.  Like they are trying to figure something out without actually telling you what they are trying to figure out.  If they can just ask about what they want to know it would be easier. For instance when one ds asks "Are we allowed to paint with fingernail polish?"  and I say, "No, why?" And They answer "Cause brother is doing it all over one of his school books."  Getting to the point would have eliminated the questions and shortened my response time by at least 30 seconds.