Have you ever received a thank-you note from a grandchild? If so, I’m quite sure it warmed your heart. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that thank-you notes are an important part of expressing our gratitude to one another. The practice brings graciousness and civility to our lives and draws us closer to one another.
Are thank-you notes becoming a lost art?
What brought this to mind was not a lack of thank-yous from my grandkids. Rather it was the response I received from guests of an elegant luncheon I gave in honor of a special teacher of mine. Of the ten people present, I received two sweet emails and one handwritten note. None of them were from the guest of honor. Of course, I didn’t host the luncheon in order to receive thanks. But I admit the experience would have felt more complete had she sent me a little personal note. Email or snail mail wouldn’t have mattered. She is generally a thoughtful person, and I’m sure she was not being purposely neglectful. I suspect she simply wasn’t trained as a child to express thanks in this way, and it didn’t occur to her to do so.
We can reverse this trend; it needn’t be difficult.
Frankly, I think many of us have neglected to teach our kids the simple art of thank-you notes. Perhaps we ourselves have let the practice slide. But we can do better, and maybe we can teach our grandkids to do better too.
When are thank-you notes appropriate?
About.com has a great article on The Do’s and Don’ts of Thank You Notes by Donna Pilato. (http://entertaining.about.com/cs/etiquette/a/thankyou.htm) She writes, “A thank you note is an expression of appreciation for a thoughtful act, expression, or gift.” She goes on to say, “… just remember that an imperfect note that comes with heartfelt sentiment is better than a perfect note that was never written.”
Guidelines most applicable to children are:
Here are a few ideas that may help get the grandkids excited about writing thank-yous:
I believe we’re doing our grandchildren a favor by teaching them the simple art of thank-you notes. In this small way, we’re helping them make a gentler, kinder world in which to grow up.
A caveat: Be sure the parents are on board with this little project. You don’t want to appear judgmental toward them if they haven’t yet taught this practice to their children. You want them to be thankful.
