Dear Everyone Who Has Given Me or One of My Children a Gift During the Past, Oh, Say, Two-and-a-half Years,
Thank you. I meant to write a thank-you note. I really did. In fact, I even drafted one. (In my head.) I used to be really very good at thank-you notes. I am a firm believer in thank-you notes. And yet. Somehow, the thank-you note is one of the things that has fallen by the wayside in this life of mine. This life. Of three kids.
But, I am grateful for your generosity. Your thoughtfulness. On holidays. And birthdays. Sometimes, for no particular reason at all, you’ve given one of us–all of us!–a gift. And, now, finally, I thank you.
Also, if it helps you to not send me a thank-you note, by all means, take me off of your to-do list. In all honesty, every time a thank-you note arrives in my mailbox, the guilt of my own thank-you delinquency returns.
Very thankfully yours,
Jen (and her also-thanking-you family)
*****
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Item #1 on my to-do list: write thank-you notes for baby gifts and meals. Maybe I can just e-mail everyone the link to this post instead and call it done??
.-= Stacia´s last blog ..Haiku Friday =-.
I’d say, ABSOLUTELY. :)
I am right there with you. Right there with you. It’s mortifying. But there it is.
I actually love writing Thank You Notes and have a stack of cards on hand. I know. I know. I am a nerd that way, but greeting cards have always been my soft spot.
.-= Rudri´s last blog ..Professor =-.
I write thank you notes when I need paper time. For me, paper (and glue and scissors and favorite pens) are healing instruments. So sometimes people get them…sometimes they don’t. It is kinda odd, but if you get a thank you note from me of late, it means I was in a funk and needed to retreat to a few pages with pretty colors. Somehow, I’m able to soothe myself while soothing a “thing-to-do” need as well.
But, like you, I’m always grateful for what everyone gives me. Does this make me unevenly grateful?
Paper time. Yes yes yes. Lately, my paper time is satisfied by list-making. Now THAT is sad.
Thank you notes were foreign territory to me when I married my gringo 15 years ago…It was unwelcome territory, and one that I don’t visit nearly enough…
.-= Maria´s last blog ..A defining moment (and not in a good way) =-.
Hopefully people are in the same boat themselves and understand the thank you note thing, right?? I just assume everyone’s life is kinda crazy. I mean, with blogging and all…
.-= Maureen@IslandRoar´s last blog ..American Woman! =-.
That’s what I’m counting on, Maureen.
Can I just go ahead and send this letter to all of my family and friends too? Thanks.
.-= Allison @ Alli ‘n Son´s last blog ..Chicken in Tomato Vinegar Sauce and Meal Plan =-.
If everyone sends a mass e-mail to all of their friends and family, how long until it starts overlapping and repeating itself? A curious experiment, no?
When my first son was born, I started out with the best of intentions. I managed to keep up with thank you cards until he was one. I haven’t written one since. What the heck happened?
.-= Christine LaRocque´s last blog ..Balance is worth it =-.
Parenthood.
Thank you notes can be such a hassle. I try to make a good effort to get them out in a timely manner and I kind of pride myself on doing so. But another place where I’ve been shamefully delinquent lately? Gifts! New babies and a couple of wedding gifts – they are so tardy that I almost want to just skip it, rather than draw attention to how late they are. Really embarrassing…
Oh the gifts. I am delinquent there, too. I try to make muffins at least, for a gift. Well, not for a wedding gift, but for other appropriate occasions. Yes. I suggest muffins. They are surprisingly well-received!
My husband writes them. Problem solved.
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Dear Dad, =-.
Maybe you should rent him out?
We just tear into presents as soon as they’re handed to us, that way you can thank the gift-giver in person.
Brilliant, no?
.-= 6512 and growing´s last blog ..This one’s for you dear husband =-.
Indeed. I like.
When my son had his Bar Mitzvah, HE had to write all the thank you notes, and for an event that big, they really had to be sent. I had a method: I wrote 3 lines of verbiage, like “thank you for the generous gift” or “I’m sorry you couldn’t come to my Bar Mitzvah”, etc, gave him a bunch of cards, and told him whether to write “Dear Aunt _____” or “Dear Cousin ______” etc. In this way, he wrote about 80! And he was 13! (I should devise something like this for me now…)
.-= Linda at Bar Mitzvahzilla´s last blog ..Escaping From Our Kids =-.
Oh good, it isn’t just me.
.-= Tepary´s last blog ..TucsonMama Hefe by Green =-.
Not by a longshot.
Thanks a lot. Now I have thank you note guilt.
;)
.-= Heather of the EO´s last blog ..Actually, it felt more like a shoe hit my head. Or a toaster. =-.
Well, I was tired of suffering in silence, ya know?
We had a few years of thank-you-note drought when my three were smaller. Now that they can write, one of their chores is writing thank you notes…yes I have to pay them to be grateful! My friends and family are entertained by the notes they receive because I may have time to sit them down to write, but I never have time to edit…they could say “my mom is making me do this” for all I know.
Yes. I look forward to that day. When they can do it themselves. I fear, though, that if I don’t do it in the meantime they’re going to fight me hard when their time comes. As in, “Hey, Mom, we’ve never written them before…”
Oh Thank God, I’m not the only one.
I actually do write thank you notes and carry them around with me and forgetting to mail them until it’s embarrassing to send out.
It seems I’m annoyingly fantastic at Thank You Cards, but terribly bad at reading and commenting on blogs these days….I’ve got summer fever and quite honestly, would never think ill of you for not sending me a thank you…since I love ya oh so much! Let’s call it even.
It is appalling how neglectful I am with thank you notes. This may make you chuckle, but I will sit down to write them and address them, but somehow they still don’t get sent out. The last step of getting stamps to put on the envelopes is so tasking for some erroneous reason. It is a bit pathetic I’m sure. Pure laziness? Partially due to be insufficiently self disciplined? I think I’ll go with another option. I get so busy running myself ragged that I totally forget to get stamps each time I am out.
My sister and I have an ongoing agreement about thank you cards. We say thank you verbally and that is enough.
Nothing like a lovely thank you note. :)
I’m guilty of this but you know what, I rarely get a thank you note from my giftees either so I think there’s an unspoken cycle of forgiveness going in in this department.
I must say, I actually do enjoy doing it when I get myself to handwrite thank you notes. It gives me a chance to practice my cursive and and not being able to hit backspace feels like a good kind of challenge. Weird, huh?
Oh crap I should be writing thank you notes instead of typing this but I have 3 kids and blogging is SO much more fun! Once I sit down to do it I am good to go it is just making the time that is so hard. I will say though – I never forget grandpas and grandmas or other older people’s thank yous. To them I think it would be the worst thing in the world and they would think I was raised by heathens. I don’t want people thinking that of my dear mom!
Copy. Paste. Sign Shawna (instead of Jan….see how sharp I am) Send. To probably my entire address book. Life has gotten away from me.
Can I steal this letter? Except I’d have to change it to “Dear Everyone Who Has Given Me or One of My Children a Gift During the Past, Oh, Say, Six-and-a-half Years,” I try. Really, I try.
Oh man, this is so me. I used to be SO good at thank you cards, personalized, heartfelt, etc. And then I had a second kid. There is just no time for all the thank you cards anymore. Isn’t that horrible? But alas, it’s reality!
I give the bonus gift with every present, “Love you, please don’t bother with a thank you note.” And, I swear to you, every damn time I get a note back, “I know you said not to, but…” #fail
Delinquent Thank You Notes aside…I sure hope you win!!!
Every time I think about bailing on thank-you notes, I feel my mom hovering over my shoulder saying, “Young lady, you are not leaving that chair until you write that note.” And the guilt of ignoring her message always makes me find the time.
When my daughter was a baby I painstakingly wrote thank you notes for every gift, including photos of her and updates on progress. Now? Lucky if anyone gets a Christmas card and I only have one child!
I am the exact same way! I am terrible with thank you notes and don’t like the guilt I feel when I get them in the mail. I am good at saying thank you at the time and hope that is enough.
Oh god, thank you for reminding me I’m human. lol.
I grew up writing thank you notes religiously, I was taught it was crucial!! I was really good about it for my wedding, baby showers, first birthday, even second…but in the past year, I have not written one thank you note for a birthday or Christmas present. I can’t believe I’ve become “that” mom, but I have. I don’t even know who gave my kids what toy. It’s bad. I’ve lost total control over that aspect of my life. As you know, when you have 3 or more kids, some things just fall by the wayside. Like shaving your legs, blow drying your hair and…thank you notes. :)
Ha! And, I thank YOU for this post~