People used to joke that when they gave me a present, the thank-you note arrived at their houses before they got home from the party. Family and friends have been ridiculously generous to my husband, children, and me, and I know it's important to not only recognize their generosity, but also teach my kids that it's appropriate to send thank-you notes.
Expressing gratitude for a gift is something that was ingrained in me as a child. Growing up, I truly believed that you couldn't use a toy or wear an outfit until a note of thanks had been tucked in an envelope.
I wrote my wedding notes on the flight to my honeymoon, scribbled card after card when we brought home our first baby, and was on top of things through her second birthday. Then my son arrived and the presents piled up and so did the packs of cards, rolls of stamps, and lists of who gave us what. I was just about up to date when his first birthday arrived, followed by Christmas. To finish the post, read more.
Now, my nightstand is a pile of blank, half-written, and some signed, sealed, and ready-to-deliver notes that sit waiting to be finished or dropped in a mailbox. It seems like right when I begin to sort through the stack, a diaper needs to be changed or the phone rings.
Being that today is International Thank You Day, my deadline is tonight. And then, I'll count the days until my children can put pen to paper themselves.
French Sole
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Ben Sherman
I was the same way before having a baby, always on time with thank you notes. I started writing thank you notes this morning and then read this post. So, I am also setting my deadline as tonight!
1I'm a little slower with my thank you notes now that there are two of them. But, I admit that for Christmas, I send one thank you card to each person from all of us.
Hope that's not too lazy...
This year, my son signed all of our thank you cards to people who gave the kids gifts. It actually made the process significantly slower.
Looking forward to that day when they can tackle the job on their own...
2@jennifer76 - I so know that feeling! My son is 6 and it makes the process go soooo much slower with him helping. I've gotten great responses from having him write them out though.
3Same thing here. I'm not nearly as timely as I would like and w/ a 4 year old learning to write his name the whole process just takes longer (although I keep reminding myself it's a good habit for him to start).
4Thank God someone who did have it all together beforehand still admits to not having it altogether after two. We did a few phone calls this year, and now after seeing the post on lilsugar about phone calls being better than nothing, I'm thinking we need to make a few more. I always have good intentions for sending out those cards...
5I despise thank-you notes. I write them for formal occasions because they're expected, but I despise it, and I hate getting them. You've thanked me verbally, no need to waste paper and write me to do it again.
Ugh.
Thankfully, those in our family and friend circle don't expect thank-you notes for birthdays, baby showers, etc, nor do they send them. And they're pretty much the only people included in those, so I'm good to go.
6wow! you sound like super woman.. but its a great thing to send thank you noteS!
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