Table Manners | Lifestyle | Family | Etiquette

Table Manners My Mother Taught Me

Everyone thinks they have proper table manners. A trip to any restaurant will tell you otherwise. Especially if you know your manners, to begin with.

My sister and I grew up where my parents, especially my mother, made sure we would grow up to be respectable adults when sitting down to dinner with others. She made sure we understood some basic, PROPER, mannerisms while at the table. So, I’ll write about a few of them.

How To Use a Knife and Fork Properly.

People who don’t know how to use them properly won’t even blink an eye about this one. But those who do will cringe every time they see someone holding their knife and fork like they are about to throw a spear!

Let me explain; you DO NOT grab these utensils with your whole fist. This is called the spear thrower or javelin thrower grip. Folks, you are NOT stabbing your food! You are merely holding it to cut it. There is no stabbing involved.

If I go out with someone who doesn’t hold their utensils properly, chances are, I won’t go out with them again. Why? Because, in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think they don’t have any respect for themselves, which means they won’t have respect for me as well. Call me vain, but that’s the way it is.

Believe it or not, it takes seconds to understand how to hold a fork and knife properly. I’ll even show a quick video I found to prove how easy it is…

Cut your food in bit size pieces.

This one sort of goes along with the utensil thing I’ve already mentioned.

Think of it this way, it’s always better to have smaller pieces to eat rather than larger pieces.

If you have food on your fork, and you have to still bite it into smaller portions to fit it in your mouth, CUT THE FOOD WITH YOUR KNIFE!

Holy Cow! People who do this just look foolish! Did you just come out of the back woods?

It is absolutely disgusting to see someone do that! Have you ever seen an animal in the wild eat their kill? They just rip away the flesh with their teeth. Is that how you do it? You don’t have to, and you SHOULD NEVER DO IT!

It’s a simple fix, cut your food into smaller pieces with your knife!

Chew With Your Mouth Closed.

Not just food, gum as well!

No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants to see food on the inside of your mouth! Anytime you chew anything, food and gum included, at least be respectful of others and keep your mouth closed.

Think about it, have you ever seen someone chew gum with their mouth open? What did you think of that person? The first thing that I think of is a cow chewing cud. Forgive me for this, but growing up in the country, this is something you see quite often.

Is it right to think this way? I really don’t know, but that’s the vision I have when someone around me chews with their mouth open. Am I the only one who thinks this way? I would venture to say not, but I also haven’t polled anyone, so I may well me.

Since I’ve pointed this out, I’ll bet you will now notice it more and more as you go about your day. All I can say is if you do this, be conscious of it and have some pride with yourself and STOP DOING IT! You are not a cow!

Do Not Use Fingers to “Scoop” Your Food Off Your Plate.

You should never, EVER, use you fingers to scoop up food from you plate! Even finger food. If the whole piece of finger food doesn’t fit in your mouth, then cut it using a fork and knife (see above for details on that one).

If a piece of food falls on your plate, that’s fine. Just use your fork to pick it up. It’s not that hard to understand folks.

Think of it this way and use this rule of thumb (no pun intended!), if you’re using a plate, fingers should never touch the plate, only utensils. I don’t know how to make it any easier to understand.

There you have it, some basic table manners. If you are following this little guide, then great! If not, focus on changing and you’ll see a difference in how much better you view yourself.

Again, these are the manners which were instilled in my family’s home growing up, yours may have been different. Although, I can’t believe anyone’s mother, who taught table manners, would teach any other way.

Hey, I write in different topics, and I’ve linked to others below. Feel free to read more and let me know your thoughts!