I recently called a friend at home, and her son answered, in my opinion, very impolitely. I took the opportunity to give my kids a refresher course in manners. If there is one thing that drives me crazy, it's being impolite. So when I told my friend's son that I wanted to talk to his mom and he said, "Why? She's outside. What do you need her for?", I wasn't impressed. A simple, "she's outside, can I take a message?" would have done the job.

So over the next few days, I kept an eye on my kids to make sure they hadn't forgotten Telephone Etiquette 101. STRIKE ONE Later the next day, one of my cowboys called a friend and offered me the opportunity to rectify a few problems.

"Hi, is X there?" he asked. When he had hung up, I reminded him that this wasn't the way I had taught him to ask to speak to someone. "Because you know all of your friend's family members, you could have properly introduced yourself. For example: 'Hi, it's Kathleen. Can I speak with X, please?"

"Is that not what I said?" "Not exactly," I said. "You didn't introduce yourself and you didn't say please."Later on, the phone rang, and another one of my sons answered: "Hello! Yes ... Mom, it's for you!"When my call finished, I went to see my little receptionist and we went over the ABCs of answering the phone.

I couldn't believe it. For years, my kids had been respectful to the people they spoke to when they made a call or answered the phone. Did all of this knowledge disappear as one approached adolescence?

If that's the case, I have to say they don't have the wrong mother, because when it comes to manners, I am stubborn and intend to remain that way. Because things can be forgotten, I told myself I was going to give a refresher course on a few items they hadn't quite mastered.

The results were immediate. The next day, I heard one of my kids answer the phone and say: "Hi, yes, just a minute please. Mom, it's for you."Ah, music to my ears! That is much better. Taking the handset, I gave an appreciative thumbs up and got a smile in return. I guess my son got the message.