I know this might make me a bad mom, but I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to teaching my kids table manners when they were little. Mainly I was just focused on not killing them as they complained again about whatever vegetable I asked them to eat (which is a part of table manners in itself).

But the first time my oldest daughter got invited over to a playdate that involved a meal I began to panic. Would she slurp her spaghetti, eat with her fingers or spill her drink all over? Would she turn her nose up at everything put in front of her. Would she even sit in her chair?

So when I was asked to host a Barbie Charm School Party I hoped that maybe Barbie could succeed where I failed (I mean she succeed at that no waist, big boob thing). Plus there were princess tiara’s, Barbies and yummy food. I was going to be mom of the year.

So we gathered up a bunch of Barbie loving little girls and outfitted them in their crowns. After some play time with the Barbies, we gathered around the table for some lessons in etiquette.

picture courtesy of Jodi

Lesson 1: How to set a proper table. We got these super cute placemats in our Barbie party pack and I got some cute princess plates at the dollar store. Each guest had to set their place before lunch. This task has paid off richly. My girls now ask to set the table every night and despite the fact we have a lot of unnecessary utensils on the table, it always looks quite lovely.

picture courtesy of Jodi

Lesson 2: Politely asking or declining food. This one wasn’t exactly in the “official” party plans, but since this is something I continue to work on with my kids I took it upon myself to indoctrinate everyone else’s as well. We practiced saying “Yes please”, “No Thank You” and “May I please have some more.”

picture courtesy of Jodi

Lesson 3: Wait for others to finish before getting up from the table. This is another one I just decided to throw in because we don’t do a great job of this at my house. But I bribed them with dessert if they patiently waited. Cupcakes always work.

Lesson 4: Writing Thank You Notes: We were provided with thank you notes and so we all practiced writing them. I suggested they write them to their parents thanking them or bringing them to the party. But many of these lovely mannered girls wrote me the sweetest notes.

The girls were all so delightful and sweet and it seemed that they had a great time. I splurged a bit and got each little girl a “Barbie” at the dollar store to take home (sorry original Barbie. They didn’t hold a candle to you). They also each received a manners checklist and achievement certificate as well as their placemat to take home.

The party was a week ago and my girls still bring up some of the things they learned. And when they forget I can always utter four words I never thought I would say to my girls. “What Would Barbie Do?”

Make sure to be on the lookout for the Barbie Princess Charm School DVD coming out in a few weeks.

Disclosure: I received a Barbie Princess Charm School party kit from One2One Network as well as a gift card to purchase needed supplies. As always all opinions are mine.