Cecelia Ahern is 40 and best-selling novelist. With David her husband and two children, Robin (11), Blossom (22) and Sonny (9), she lives in Dublin.
As a child, I learned to be polite and have good manners. As I look around, I don’t see that so much any more, and it sometimes makes me wonder whether it’s better to be polite or mean like so many people.
I know the answer, of course, and it’s how I’m bringing up my kids. You will get there even if it seems like you’re last at times. It is best to be steady and slow.
Cecelia Ahern (40), says to think of other people before you make a statement and consider the impact it might have on them
According to me, it is important that people think about other people before they say anything. This will help them avoid any negative repercussions. I do a lot of business with the U.S. and they aren’t raised in the same way as us. Americans tend to believe that the person who speaks loudest will get the most results.
As a parent, I see my children waiting in line to have their face painted. They are being ignored by the other children.
I try to explain to them that they shouldn’t copy that way of behaving; they shouldn’t sink to that level.
Miriam is my mum. I am one of 11. I also have many aunts and uncles that would make sure I always said thank you and please. Olive, my grandmother, was extremely strict. It was a terrible habit for Olive to see us shrugging or nodding rather than giving a polite response to a question. However, she was a great laugher. She had false teeth and she’d take them out and make them chatter to my friends, which they loved.
Having said all of that, I’m not saying politeness and kindness mean you’re not being tough. You live your life with more thought. It’s no more than being considerate.
One of my friends mentioned to me that one character on TV was two-faced. They thought one thing and acted another. But, in a way, I think that’s good. You don’t go up to someone and say the rude thing you might be thinking about them. Some people feel that kindness and assertiveness can’t be bedfellows. But it’s not true.
Both can coexist perfectly.
- FRECKLES is now available from HarperCollins by CeceliaAhern.