There Goes the Motherhood‘s toddler etiquette class went seriously wrong

Now that tension and awkwardness have taken over the mommy group on There Goes the Motherhood, the cast members are eager to find any way possible to bond outside of the group therapy setting. They also want their kids to be best buds. According to the moms, the best way to simultaneously achieve these goals is to send little kids to etiquette class. Unfortunately, tonight’s ambitious etiquette gathering amounted to a whole lot of chaos and not much else.

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Instilling good manners is never a bad thing, but trying to get a bunch of preschool and elementary-aged kids to focus on a topic that likely bores them to death? Not so much! Although a few of the kids seemed attentive and were able to later show their moms what they’d learned, several others spent the session bickering or staring out the window. Clearly, etiquette class was not how these energetic tykes wanted to spend their afternoon.

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Etiquette lessons aren’t necessarily a bad idea for all kids, but they’re probably not the most effective means of teaching really young children how to behave. Youngsters have limited attention spans and they’re not likely to get that much out of a class solely dedicated to acting polite. It may be more effective to teach children throughout the day, ideally addressing the need for etiquette the moment a touchy situation arises. This situational approach allows kids to contextualize what they’ve learned and put appropriate behaviors into practice right away.

More:There Goes the Motherhood‘s mom-shaming is not OK

In general, viewers are not impressed with There Goes the Motherhood thus far. Many have pleaded for Bravo to take the show off the air, which begs the question: Why are they tuning in at all? Additionally, many spoke ill of tonight’s pointless etiquette class. They thought that the attendees’ behavior was awful and some went so far as to accuse the adult cast members of being bad moms.

I think it’s a bit too soon to claim that the moms featured on There Goes the Motherhood are terrible parents, but the whole etiquette thing seemed misplaced and, frankly, a bit contrived. At any rate, based on the rude behavior that has already taken over the show, the moms are more in need of etiquette lessons than their children.

Do you think that an etiquette lesson is an appropriate bonding activity for the kids of There Goes the Motherhood? Comment and share your opinion below.