Thank You Notes

There are few things in this world that I couldn't be convinced to do away with.

And, no, I'm not talking Diet Coke or coffee or cake, though those are things I would happily leave behind if I thought it would, somehow, significantly prolong my life or make me less sarcastic or cause my body to revert back to pre-children.

But one thing that never gets old and that I will never give up is sending handwritten thank you notes.

Normally, I like to be sure that each gift giver receives a prompt note of acknowledgement before the received gifts are well-worn, cashed, or otherwise used.  And, since having kids, that has made thank you notes time intensive. 

So, this weekend, I reminded the kids that they needed to work on their December thank yous.  Surprisingly, this year didn't include the sounds of a torture chamber that generally accompany this task.  I lorded over them supervised their writing without even one hint of eye-rolling or whining or "WHHYYYY?"

I saw, for the first time, Nickels taking pride in using "my" method of writing:  Greeting, thanks, word about the gift, thanks for spending time together/thinking of me, sign-off, signature.  Being my man of few words, I was overwhelmed by how many words he actually used in his notes this time.  I could tell he was really trying to convey his heart!

Hooman seems to have a natural gift for writing words of thankfulness, so I barely had to lift a finger, other than to tell him to wait to read me what he'd written.  He gladly wrote birthday and Christmas thanks in a very short amount of time, leaving lots of his sweet self in those cards.

The Babe had double duty writing baptism and Christmas thanks, a task that would have left most six-year-olds in a heap of writhing pain on the floor.  But, The Babe?  Nope.  He embraced copying the names of his gift givers and signing his name (in cursive, Mr. Fancy Pants!)

If I have done one thing right in this whole parenting thing, it is to instill the need for thanks in my kids.  I'm not saying they will rush out to buy thank you notes once they are on their own, but while they are here, I feel good about forcing them instilling in them the need for showing appreciation.

And, of course, they have no idea that, as they pack for college, monogrammed stationary is on the short list of gifts they'll be taking with them.

Go ahead, call me evil. 

I have a thank you card ready for that.