It’s safe to say that young women in the 21st century are exposed to more educational opportunities than any generation of women in history. Even before you started kindergarten you might have been on a soccer team, in a dance class, or taking Suzuki violin lessons. At home you might have played word games on the computer and practiced writing your name. By the time you get to middle school, you might feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the week to do everything on your calendar.
But sometimes what gets lost in between ballet and biology, Spanish class and piano lessons, creative writing and cross country, are the basic rules of simple etiquette and guidelines for appropriate behavior.
Years and years ago, young ladies were expected to take classes in proper deportment, which is an old-fashioned way of saying simple etiquette and appropriate behavior. That was long before young women spent their teen years preparing for higher education, interesting work, and being financially independent.
Progress is a good thing, and no one would ever for a second suggest going backwards. But even an accomplished student, a gifted artist, or a brilliant young law clerk is at a disadvantage if she never learned to write a thank-you note, understand a formal table setting, accept a compliment, make an apology, express sympathy, or respond to an invitation.
Learning these things will not cost you a cent, but knowing them and practicing them will without a shadow of a doubt pay enormous dividends, starting right now and lasting your lifetime.
The good news—for you and your parents—is that you don’t have to add one more class to your overwhelming schedule. Within the pages of this book are small but very important lessons every young lady should know, whatever her dreams for her future may be.