So, now that my son’s birthday is over I have to deal with the aftermath – returning duplicate toys, cleaning frosting off of the carpeting, avoiding stepping on the mini soldier figures from the 50-piece army playset (You ever step on those in bare feet? It smarts!) It also means writing thank you notes.
I hate writing thank you’s. They’re a pain in the ass. It’s such an obligation. They stress me out. And, I’ve completely blown off writing them in the past and the guilt is overwhelming. Why?! Why do we carry on this antiquated, formal and, in this day and age, unnecessary ‘to do’? I suspect the thank you note tradition began way back when there were no phones, no computers and women in corsets and poufy, massive gowns and big fluffy wigs sat around at writing tables with nothing better to do than write frilly thank you’s to some acquaintance a 3-day horseride away. Times have changed, sisters!
Lets start a movement among Mothers to cease writing thank you notes to one another. We all have enough going on. Do we really have to formally thank one another for every single gift? Yes, there are times when a thank you note is 100% warranted – for a completely unexpected gift or gesture, when someone reaches out to you in a time of need, etc. But for the $20 bday gift for your kid? I think not. All I care about is acknowledgment they got the gift and they know it was from us. This can be done by phone, text, email. I don’t care. I have some friends who thank me over the phone for something I sent one of their kids and then they follow up with a thank you note. What’s the point? You thanked me already!
My good friend, Kristen, with whom I’ve had this discussion on numerous occasions and with whom I have a “No Thank You” pact, suggested we start something like the national Do Not Call Registry for thank you notes. We can call it the “Do Not Thank” Registry. By adding your name to the list, you are no longer “eligible” to receive or send thank you’s for your average gift-giving occasion. Wouldn’t that be nice? Imagine the time you’d get back, the stress relief, the money you’d save in stamps, the trees you would save by reducing your demand for thank you notes and stationery. So many benefits! We’re silly not to do this.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:18 am
Where do I sign up? Seriously.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I know. It’s like we all have to agree on it, you know? It kinda doesn’t work when you DON’T send thank you’s and your friends send them to you. I know this from experience. I am SURE people talk about me behind my back for not sending thank you notes. I’ve had some guilt about it, but that goes away…
July 28th, 2010 at 2:08 am
I dont know what to say. This blog is fantastic. Thats not really a really huge statement, but its all I could come up with after reading this. You know so much about this subject. So much so that you made me want to learn more about it. Your blog is my stepping stone, my friend. Thanks for the heads up on this subject.
July 28th, 2010 at 2:08 am
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you!Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out!