I generally don't specifically worry about manners and responsibility because they're both so easy to raise, and the sim's natural behavior (doing homework, clearing dishes) will raise them easily. Emotional control is fairly easy too with a journal or just having them "play with emotion" with a toy or the doll house.
I always have the parent pick the choice that will raise empathy with the parenting chance cards (or if the parent sim's parenting skill is high enough, at least the one that won't decrease it) when it comes up. Even if that's not always the most socially acceptable choice. Their manners and responsibility scores will recover faster than their empathy scores.
