Have been working with my kids a lot on manners but this applies to so much more. With foster or adoptive kids sometimes they come with so many things troubling them. I have see a child go from wild animal to troubled human to maybe one-day well-balanced adult. I have also been reading quite a bit of [Shel Silverstein](http://www.shelsilverstein.com/) and thought that adding some artwork other than pictures to the poems and posts might be nice. ## Son of Mine I know Your manners are atrocious Son of mine you seem to know There’s food on your shirt And your furs grotesque You tear your food Son of mine you know Using your teeth like tusks You grunt and you groan Your fingernails are unkept Jagged and sharp you know Dirt from digging tunnels to home Under your fingernail growth You’re an animal I see Not a civil bone in your body I know To the bath with you quickly Let’s see if you are a beastly oddity. The grime rolls off and stains the water Tooth paste suds scrub teeth Clippers for the claws of the beast P.J.s adorn the son of mine I know