London, May 2: Mothers may pamper their children but they want their offsprings to be well-mannered as well.

This inference can be drawn from a survey in Britain which has revealed that mothers are increasingly returning to the values of their grandparents to teach their children old-fashioned manners.

In fact, according to the poll, women are very keen to instil the importance of saying 'please' and 'thank you', telling the truth, table manners and giving up seats for the elderly, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported on Friday.

The survey, which was carried out for Marks & Spencer, questioned 1,084 women on their attitudes to motherhood. Three quarters of respondents felt it's appropriate to teach kids how to be on their best behaviour before the age of three.

One in three women polled said that they started teaching their kids the value of money and the importance of saving between the ages of three and five. In fact, many kids are encouraged to pay into a piggy bank or savings account and earn pocket money by doing chores such as gardening.

The survey also found that mothers encouraged their children to say "I'd like" not "I want", to share with friends and siblings and to queue properly rather than push in.

It revealed that it is increasingly the mother who takes the role of the disciplinarian -- a reversal of the traditional role. Almost half of those questioned felt that mothers play the leading role in enforcing household rules.

"What the research has shown, and what I'm seeing, is that mothers today want to return to an earlier era, like the 1950s, when manners and respect for authority was considered an important issue," behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson was quoted as saying.