Thank you cards are terribly important to me.
I am behind on my own birthday thank you notes now and it makes me feel prickly, but with the kiddos I like to get right on it while the memory is still fresh. My parents made me sit down at the wood table and take pencil in hand at a very young age and express gratitude. I can remember that it was a bit taxing as a child and somewhat annoying as adolescent, but I think it has made me a better person.
I think it taught me two things:
Yr time is love- a phone call is quicker- but yr time and effort show love & the handwritten word is sacred.
So- I make my kids think about taking time away from play and the drama of the day to say thanks and I also plan on keeping a small writing center this year for Finn to explore the lost art of letter writing.
(INSERT MAJOR DREAMER HEAD HERE)Someday I want to hold a letter writing workshop and travel the country in a silver Airstream and show people how delicious is is to write love letters again.
I love texts and little words floating in and out of computers, but the sound of pen to paper makes me most delirious.
The way letters bend and sparkle across a page cannot be rivaled by even the greatest font foundry. The way "I love you" looks in bold black sharpie or the backwards wonky letters of a preschooler can buckle my knees and break my heart...
Write letters.
Love Letters.
***Here is a simple and fun way to make thank you notes for those little ones who cannot yet write a proper thank you.
1. Take a photo of child with gift.
2. Ask the child how the gift makes them feel.
3. Write that sentiment on the blackboard along with thank you.
4. Print photo and include with simple handwritten child signature or scribble scrabble.
How sweet of a thank you is this?
And for those truly against having to send thank you notes or super eco friendly - you can email it although I think you know what I think- mail it mail it!!
Happy Boxing Day!
This is my husbands favorite day.
It is the day of true sloth like behavior for this family.
(Leftover food and drink and feet up-like all day)
^^^^^^^^^^Some other cool chalkboard links:
Here and Here and Here
xo
29 comments:
I am 100% with you on thank you notes. I write them and so will my (future) kids. This is a great idea! xo
I'd so ride that airstream with you! I love hand written notes. I'm all about 'em.
oh this is a fantastic idea! i'll be linking to you on this weekend's PBS supersisters weekend roundup!
xo
Ruh-roh. Bossy is very bad about Thank Yous. Must add that to the very long list of Things To Change In The New Year.
I'm with Bossy. I am very bad at the thank you note. I was not raised writing thank yous. I am also not very good at receiving... I'm sure the two are connected. I am learning how to be better. Maybe I should start with this lovely idea of the thank you photo. My kids got so many many things from distant folks.
I also think your airstream dream is lovely.
I think this world is about to experience a renaissance of lovely. Of human touches. Of kindness. I believe it, and I believe it is being sparked by you and people like you.
I love-love-love this and am looking forward to the version of you with your hunter boots! LOL
Yes! I'm totally with you - there's no replacement for real mail. Thank you for this!
You always have the best ideas!
what a great idea. love it!
Classy AND creative. Yr such a hero.
Great idea! You take it to another level of gratitude.
Totally excellent idea which I am officially stealing.
This is sooo creative! This is one of the best thank you note ideas I have ever seen ... thanks for sharing!
ah thanks guys :)
I love this!
great idea.. I love the photo with the hulk hands (or whatever they are) I really dont think Australians write thankyou's very often.. I don't think I ever wrote them growing up... I was thinking (before I read your post) that I might get the girls to write some notes (now they can write) but it took a while to write christmas cards to all their class.. I think your idea is better !!
I love Thank you Notes. I have four children and they all write thank you's after Birthdays and Christmas and for any extra Happies they may get throughout the year.
Christmas afternoon I walked into the Kitchen and my two oldest girls 13 and 10 were sitting there writing out their notes. Unprompted by me. I was thrilled!
The 8 year old boy finished his on Sunday and the 5 year old little girl was not to be outdone. She wrote out
Dear Mimi,
Thank You!
Love Abigale
The recipiant will just have to remember what they gave her! Thanks for your post!
oooh amy this is a completely genius idea (of course...) I'm totally stealing it!
I just linked to you from Design Mom. I'll definitely be using this idea. It's great, especially for little kids who can't write their own notes.
Way to instill good habits in your children. I think this is a lost art, or one that is fading quickly. I like your idea, very cute.
amy, great minds think alike- i just posted about parents sending love notes to their little ones at my blog ww.eensies.com. just discovered you and am looking forward to reading more of your blog!
amy, this past week i posted about parents sending love notes TO their little ones at my blog ww.eensies.com. i'm with you on the importance of writing letters/notes. i just discovered you and am looking forward to reading more of your blog!
Your writing can make my knees buckle, that was so beautifully put! And I love the thank you note via chalkboard idea...I did this for a Happy Hanukkah "card" on our playroom chalk wall, hardest part is getting them to sit still long enough to capture an image. Your kiddos are the cutest!
What a cute idea - and I wanted to say that I agree with your view on writing thank you notes, and writing in general. It really is the perfect way to express what you're trying to say, and much more personal than an email.
Great idea on the thank you notes. I know that my patients love it when I send them a handwritten note...it just seems the right thing to do. But, it would be cool to somehow just get a quick chalkboard and pictures for some too.
Gonna have to check out some more of your articles. :)
I love this. I am a crazy person about thank you notes. I drive my children insane just like my mother drove me. Ah, the circle of life.
this is such a lovely idea. Thank you for sharing!!!
What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace.
Great idea! My kids wrote many thank you when they were small, now that they're bigger however it's getting tougher and tougher to make them do it. Sigh. My only hope is that one day they'll remember to make their kids write them.
Post a Comment