"These are the rules!" But you didn't understand....

[OPhiAGinger]

Growing up in the deep South, my parents were very big on us saying "yes, ma'am" and "yes, sir". Now that I'm a parent, I totally get it. It's a way of acknowledging that the adult they are talking to is not a peer, that they command a higher degree of respect than a fellow child would.

I don't enforce this with my own kids when they are addressing other adults because it tends to weird out the adults. We don't live in the South and, in general, younger adults didn't grow up with this norm. But I do make my kids say "yes, Mama" and "no, Mama" when they're talking to me, especially if they're sulky about a decision I have handed down. When I insist that they say that, they stop arguing abruptly. They don't know why, but I'm positive it's because they are unconsciously acknowledging my authority to make and enforce the rules… even if it's just about them picking up their dirty clothes from the floor of the bathroom.