Ah. The day after Christmas. Boxing Day if you are in a Boxing Day country. Personally I think Boxing Day is a great idea… why don’t we have Boxing Day? Or just celebrate St. Stephen’s Day? I know, it’s just an excuse to go out and shop, but the extra bank holiday might be appreciated by some. Anyway…
Gifts have been unwrapped and put away. Paper and packaging has been cleared away. New play-doh that came out of the can in such vibrant colors are now a sad shade of beige. What’s next to do? Thank You Notes. Time to write the Thank You notes.
What?! You may think that Thank You notes are antiquated and a throwback to the dark ages before we had stuff like email and unlimited minutes and instant gratification but that is what makes Thank You notes (or letter writing and manners in general) is fine art that transcends all social and class lines. It really can be the great equalizer!
Writing a note by hand allows you to put to paper human emotions: joy, sorrow, gratitude, love, nostalgia. And if you think about it, those (and anger) are among the first emotions we learn to articulate verbally.
Before sitting down to write your notes, gather your supplies:
Pen
Paper
Envelopes
Address Book
List of gifts and their givers (if needed)
According to Margaret Shepherd, author of The Art of the Handwritten Note, your Thank You Note should have five characteristics. It should be: generous, specific, prompt, succinct and personal.
Generous. Send the note even if you’ve already thanked the giver in another way.
Specific. Mention the gift but thank them for the THOUGHT behind it.
Prompt. Send the note right away, but don’t let lateness stop you from writing at all.
Succinct. Keep it short by writing about any unrelated matters in a separate note.
Personal. Write it by hand. No form letters, printouts or greeting cards.
Things to say:
Thank you so much.
It’s just what I’ve wanted
How did you guess I wanted a [the gift]
I am enjoying wearing, playing with, looking at, eating, listening to, reading [the gift]
You were so thoughtful, kind, generous
Things to avoid:
Thank you for the gift [this may imply to the giver that you have forgotten what they gave you or that you lost the gift. EXCEPTION: when the gift is money in some form. In that case, thank them for the "gift" but then be sure to tell them what you are planning to do with the gift.]
You shouldn’t have
Thank you for dinner. [Was the rest of the evening just awful?]
I’m exchanging it. [Wow.]
IT’S THE BEST GIFT EVER!! [makes you sound a bit insincere.]
Now some of you, like me, are parents. And since you are a parent, that means you have children. If you have taught your kids to say “thank you,” you can teach them to write thank you notes! When it comes to kids, you have a new options. For the first five years, or so, you can write on your child’s behalf. I, personally, write in the child’s voice. For an older preschooler, they could dictate to you what to write or copy a few lines down that you have written for them (if they can write their letters) or they can write their name at the end of the note.
For older children, help them enjoy writing notes by employing some of the following tactics:
Schedule time together to write. We all know how kids fare better when they know what to expect and when, so set aside, in advance, a set an hour or so on a specific day to write notes
Support your child. Give your child their very own stationery and special pen. Make sure your child has all of the needed addresses or address the envelopes for them as they write the note.
Personalize it. If you child likes glitter, stickers, stamps, or the like, let them add the embellishments to their note.
Model. Your child will not want to write thank you notes if they do not see you writing notes. Just as your child sees you saying “Thank You” in person, let them see how that gratitude is translated into a thank you note. Make sure your child sees how enjoyable RECEIVING thank-you notes is by reading the notes you receive aloud and posting them.
Join them. Sit down with your child and write something as well: your own thank-you notes, journal, a letter, etc. If nothing else, it’s helpful for your child for you to be there, to offer support with spelling, advice and phrasing.
Have the gift at the ready. Kids are concrete. They remember the here and now, so it might be helpful for to have the gift in front of your child when they write. Ask your child how they felt when they received the gift. If they were not too keen on the gift, ask them to imagine how happy Auntie was picking out the gift for them.
Reciprocity. Help your child understand the pleasure people get from being thanked by making sure they know what it feels like to give a gift and then receive a thank-you note. If you write a thank-you note to your child, it is a concrete example of how thank-you notes make people feel. And how cool is it, as a child, to receive a thank-you note from a grown-up?!
I hope this takes some of the scare out of writing thank-you notes and encourages you to start a new tradition of your own!
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