cousins camp

When my daughter and her boys cousins who are close in age were in elementary school
I hosted an event for them we called Cousins Camp.
I let them swim around in the pool for a while, I fed them, and then we got down to business: the business of manners and deportment.
You see, I had watched the Cousins Camp participants' older sibling and their friends.
It appeared a majority of them had no idea that they should hold doors and pull out chairs and stand when a lady who was their elder entered the room (and I dont mean me, here.)
I've always thought that manners mattered.
Maybe it's because I spent a goodly amount of time living in the deep South. Maybe it's because I married a southern gentleman. Maybe it's because of the influence of my Southern mother-in-law and her generation of friends and relatives. Maybe it is because I am was a long time girl scout leader. Whatever the reason, people, with good manners impress me. Polite children impress me.
I wanted the children in my family to be polite; thus cousins camp was born.
Fast forward to last weekend.
My baby sister sent me a message about one of my handsome nephews and the impact she believes Cousins Camp made upon him. It seems that before he traveled to Chicago and got down on one knee to propose to the girl, he went and asked her father for permission.
Baby Sis allows that those manners and deportment sessions made an impact on her boy. She wants a similar impact made on his younger brother, who is not quite nine, as I write this.
The result: Cousins Camp is about to be resurrection. Just last night we set a date for Cousins Camp 2013. I hope it will be big fun for the young participants.
I know I am having big fun, already, planning it!