I’m reposting my Apres Holiday Thank You Note Post because I like to send a friendly reminder to you all that it’s that time again. My kids are done with theirs. Sadly I still have six to write so my kids are currently on me to finish them. They’ve threatened to limit my computer time until I’ve completed them.
The nerve.
I loved watching my kids write their Holiday Thank You Notes this year – Eloise of course is an expert and listening to her coach Esther on how to say something is seriously adorable. I could hear Eloise repeating what I’ve told and showed her year after year.
This parenting stuff really sinks in sometimes. I could like totally move out and Eloise pretty much has everything covered.
It’s my favorite time of year – otherwise known as the “hey kids stop playing with those new toys until all of the thank you notes are written! Yes, that means YOU playing Just Dance on the Wii and YOU with the headphones in listening to your new iPod Nano and YOU playing Mozart on your new baby grand..oh and YOU drinking coffee like you have 4 new coffee gift cards and YOU too(me) wondering why Santa never fills your stocking.”
Writing and sending a Thank You card is the single most amazing thing you can do as a human being – really. I start them young and remember fondly my mother rounding us up, setting us at the table with our list, cards, stamps and her address book. And can I say I am so glad I have 2 writers/readers now as my part of the job is so much easier.
Now, instead of getting the hand-cramps myself – I just give them the old evil eye to make sure they are getting it done,and reiterate the importance of this practice of humanity.
Funny thing is, Eloise LOVES writing thank you notes..her thank yous from her birthday were works of art…and if she doesn’t receive a thank you from a friend for a gift she gave - she will ask them why she never received a proper thank you card. Perhaps not proper etiquette..but still.
Eloise would like to share some tips on a proper thank you card…
Example of a BAD thank you note
Aunt Sue,
Thank you for the money.
Eloise
Example of a PROPER thank you note..
Aunt Sue,
Thank you so much for the money. You are so sweet to remember my birthday. I plan to use the money to pay for some iTunes for my new iPod. I hope to see you soon as I miss you so much. Are you getting snow in New Mexico? We have lots of snow here.
Love you,
Eloise
Each thank you note should include
- a nice greeting
- a sincere thank you
- a personal mention of why you appreciate the gift and/or what you plan on using the gift for
- and perhaps another personal mention of them – like “I hope you are feeling well” or “enjoy your vacation” or “how’s your golf game”
- ..and then a nice signature.
Notes should be hand-written and mailed – not emailed or phoned in. And it’s even really nice to add a cute sticker on the outside of the envelope – especially if you are eight.
When my grandmother died 5 years ago – what her daughters found were boxes and boxes of boxes of almost every handwritten note she ever received. My mom delivered to me a large box of every note, card, post card AND thank you note that I ever wrote to her. It was so amazing to see my 8 year old self in those thank you notes to her – with swirly letters and hearts dotting my ‘i’s’. To think these thank you notes were so important to her that she saved them forever.
In the generation of email, text, IM and twitter – the handwritten note is mainly a thing of the past..but please, never let the proper thank you note go by the wayside – sit those kids down, even at 2 years old and show them what you are doing..and do it every time until they can do it themselves. Let them know why it’s important.
So what are your thoughts on thank you notes – do you do them? Do you have your kids do them?
Yes, I was brought up in a household where Thank You Notes were not optional. They were expected. (One thing my mom is quite proud of, as she should be.) It is now my turn to instill the importance to my daughters. And I’m trying. Right now the older daughter loves to help me and sign her own name. The other one just likes to scribble with a pen.
I love the idea of handwritten thank you notes (and yes, a sticker too please). In this age of digital communication, the handwritten thought is even more precious.
Oh dear- I’m afraid the card I mailed does not meet the Eloise-standard. My feeble excuse: writing while breastfeeding.
Yours my friend was perfect…and unnecessary – I think new moms get a pass. xo
Wow, I’m really impressed. I must admit I don’t always write my thank-you notes so thoughtfully (in fact, sometimes I tried to cheat and just send a short text message — I knowww!!! Awful, ain’t I?).
A great thing to pass on to our children, though. Receiving a sincere thank you note would indeed make my day, anytime!
No. But i will now. Yeesh. Guilt much?
Dana
It’s not me…it’s Eloise. She’s very strict.
Oops – I sent some by email:( I will get busy on the handwritten ones! Here I thought in this day and age email would be ok.
Didn’t you learn anything from your mother?
We actually need to get busy in this area. I used to be great at it until I became a mom. We’re behind, and need to catch up. I have my notes to write, too.
I am really bad at thank you notes, really bad. I don’t know why. Can we still be friends?
Only if you send chocolate instead.
I do them with JDaniel. I write the message and then trace his hand for the signature.
Oh I love this idea!
Yes, we do thank you notes and letters to friends. Just random letters out of the blue for the hell of it. It’s fun, especially for older people in the family, to receive something that a child took time and made an effort on rather than a text of thxs or nothing at all. My husband’s grandmother is 92. The look on her face at such a small gesture was priceless. I am doing something right in her eyes, and damn if that doesn’t feel good.
Excellent reminder, girlfriend!
So, so true! I am also quite obsessed with writing thank you notes, and hope to pass that along to my daughter. I like the earlier idea of tracing her hand until she is old enough to write. I know for a fact that my grandmother keeps all of the notes we send her, and I like knowing every time I mail something to her she will be stashing it away. Now I need to go finish the rest of my notes!
Yay! In this age I had seen a lot of posts lately about how we should avoid writing thank-you notes if we have little children. I myself have done digital versions before. This year, I hand wrote them on the munchkins’ behalf. But now they’re in the process of making something to give back (a little foam ornament, courtesy of Michaels). Next year the oldest is going to write his own (he’s 3 now). Anyway, I love the creative ideas others have about how to get the kids to say thank you and how to avoid going crazy…and yet the handwritten thank you notes still feel to me like the most special and appropriate way to show gratitude. Glad I’m not alone!
I loved your girls’ thank you notes, they are such good writers! And they motivated me to get mine written last night. Now if I could get my 14 year old to finish his, January would be set.
I SO very much believe in thank you notes! I love sending and receiving them. Nothing more gratifying as a gift-giver than seeing that tidy little note in the mail.
Sadly, I am WAY behind in my thank you note sending this holiday season. I blame the mice.
My grandfather would give us personal stationery every year, for Christmas, so there would be no question about what to put on the thank you cards.
I’m sorry to say that I’ve fallen out of the habit, but I’ll get back in . . . it really is a great practice.
And your rules are right on, though I usually tried to start with a tiny bit of what’s going on with me, as if it were a regular letter before telling the recipient how I planned to use whatever I was given. Just something that read “I appreciate you, and the present,” more than reading “I appreciate the present” first, even if that’s only semantics.
Such a great idea. Yes I usually now give the girls stationery in their stockings to use for notes. I’m sure they love those. lol
Oh, this makes me feel guilty. You mean I can’t just print out a pic of my boys by the Christmas tree with Thank You printed on it and mail those out?
Oh I love that idea! Or a pic of them playing/wearing/using the gift? Such a fun idea!!!
butting in. For Big Kiss’ 5th birthday, we saved a piece of each gift’s gift wrap or bag or even the card for his thank you’s – he cut them and we put on plain card stock then he wrote his own notes.
Oh that is a brilliant idea!
I’m with you. My sisters and I always had to write thank you notes when we were growing up, and I still write them. I will be making D write them too, as soon as she is old enough. But for now, I would be fine with no one getting her gifts so I don’t have to write them all for her.
And here I thought I was the only Mom who made their kids do this!! Yeah!!!
I’m a HUGE fan of the thank you note. I write them for just about everything and have the boys do so, too. I think all of ours were done by Dec 29th this year
I’m that efficient.
Damn you overachiever. xo
No joke: my kids are writing thank you cards RIGHT NOW.
On a Friday afternoon.
Am I the meanest mom ever?
Perhaps. But we’re driving three hours to my parents and grandparents’ house tonight and they will be hand-delivering their cards to these older people who love them SO much.
Who deserve their gratitude. In writing.
Go you.
And Eloise.
Raising them right for sure.
XO
Have fun with family! You are an awesome mom for your fun Friday afternoon activity. lol
Good for you for instilling the importance in this practice in your kids. So many people write crappy TY notes or, worse, don’t write them at all.
I write kick-ass TY notes because my mom, like you, not only taught me how important it is, but also taught me the proper way to do it. It’s a dying art – one that really needs to be revived.
those are lovely.
(And I like the “thanks for the money” card. very to the point.)
For me, the trick has always been to make sure the notes don’t read like I’m forcing them to write it. But since that’s usually the case, we haven’t been too successful.
I reposted this in hopes that some particular people will benefit- ugly but true! Thanks for emphasizing this critical skill:)
Love that there are others who instill this in their children!
have you ever thought about using a service like Thankster.com. It’s a website I work for and we allow people to easily send thank you notes with fonts created out of a senders handwriting and it looks very real. We know that alot of people don’t like to spend time writing thank you notes (because of hand cramps, licking stamps, and going to the post office), so we decided to lend a helping hand. We are always looking for feedback and would appreciate it.
If you’d like, we can send you a free sample, just go to the website and email us.
Happy New Year!!!!
-Thankster
I am squarely on Team Thank You Card. It’s my mom’s doing; she was the TY Card Enforcer, and now it’s me. Though I am not finished yet. It’s harder this year, because I am trying to get Abbey to sign her name for them, which she likes to do. But if I leave her alone for one second, she also does the envelopes. Oops.
My boys are always required to write thank you notes. Great post!
My mother taught me from a young age to write thank you notes and I have continued it now that I am a mother.
My daughter is too young right now to do it on her own but we send them for her and plan to teach her the importance.
I have received many a job because I sent a heartfelt thank you after an interview!
Love that you do this with your girls.