The Shame Monkey

When i was a child, my grandmother highly valued manners and proper dinner table behavior. One of her favorite tools to help us learn was called the "Whoopsie Monkey". She got the idea from a book somewhere and it was pretty simple: When we did something "wrong" at the dinner table, she would stand up and announce that (Insert_name_here) has made a Whoopsie! Then, she would place the monkey in front of that person.

The monkey would stare at you as you finished the meal, reminding you of the shame you had brought upon yourself by forgetting your manners.

This practice continued until we were well into our 20's...

A few years ago, I relayed this story to my boss, who thought it was so funny, that he immediately purchased a wooden monkey online to be used around the office, when people made funny little mistakes.

Our monkey, who we call Paul, was purchased online and we're not sure who the original artist was. If anyone knows the original artist, please let us know.