Thank you cards - how?!

TBagpuss

It's very ride not to thank people who are thoughtful and generous enough to give you a gift. I do think that a written thank you is best, but if you can't get the children to do that then encourage them to phone the giver, as a bare minimum.

I have found with my younger relatives that when they were very small, I got a letter or card from their parents, with a photo of the child. Then I would get a card which was signed by the child but written by an adult, then written by the child.

As a child, we were told that the letters needed to be sent and would be sat down to write them - a minimum of one every day until they were done. Presumably there are other things which your children have to do, whether they want to or not? How do you get them to do those things?

I think it is fine to let them make their own thank you cards on the computer, they can use clip art and photos and so on. Encourage them to pick a nice, recent photo of themselves to use on the cards.

maman

Really lovely thank you card received from my DGD1 yesterday. Although I gave her the gifts in person, she'd gone to a lot of trouble to write something personal and relevant. It's up on my mantelpiece and giving me pleasure. A text or email just wouldn't be the same. I think some traditions are worth preserving.

Brickwall

This has been a bit of a bugbear between myself and my brother, he's been with his g/f for over 10 years, they don't live together, she has two kids , they're adults now, they get for birthdays, Easter and Christmas, in over 10 years I've never had a single thank you off either the kids or his g/f.
When my daughter was little I used to encourage her to write thank you cards, once she was old enough she just did it herself without being asked. She always says thank you if people give her anything to her. She's 20 now, it's just done automatically, I have one friend that loves to chat to my daughter, so she curls up on the settee, rings her to say thank you and then settles down to have a good chat with her.