To set the record straight on e-cards and viruses - established companies like Blue Mountain do not send emails out that have viruses in them. I don't know about other companies, but there are quite a few out there. Blue Mountain did have a problem but it was over five years ago. Most viruses are sent through "phishing" - that is, the email SAYS it is from Blue Mountain or your bank, or Amazon, or some other trusted entity, when actually it is NOT sent from there. How to tell if you're being "phished"? Well, at the very bottom of a standard browser there is a title bar. When you put your mouse cursor over a link, the address that the link is going to appears in that bar. If it doesn't say amazon.com or bankofamerica.com or what-have you, it is not coming from that site. To try to fool you it may say amazon.something.com. That's not amazon.com. But something.amazon.com IS amazon.com. There HAVE been instances of phishers who have been able to show a fake address in that browser bar. But they were able to do this only on Internet Explorer browser as far as I know, and IE may have solved this issue, so make sure, if you MUST use IE, or any other Microsoft product, to keep it upgraded and up to date. And practice safe web surfing - when you search for something, don't go to just any site that pops up in the search results. Look at the description and check the address in that address bar before you click.

Thank you again, everyone, for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. I've gained a lot of perspective from your answers. My mom was here for several days and as it turns out, my in-laws will be coming tomorrow or Saturday for a couple of days, so I've been super-busy. Anyway, I called Mary's mom on Sunday and talked to her a bit and will send along the hand-me-downs back with my in-laws, who live in the same town. (They're the new baby's great-grandparents.) When I called Mary's mom, I made it easy on her by starting off with "I understand that you're going to have a new little addition to your family and I was wondering if you'd like some of M----'s baby things?!" -- so that she didn't have to go into any explanation of the situation. She said yes, they could use clothes and things and that they have plenty of the newborn to 6-month stuff, but not the older stuff. Most of my stuff is for an older baby, anyways, since my son is nearly 3, so it should be a good fit. I bought a card to include for Mary to let her know I'm thinking of her and I'll also include a chatty card for Susie along with a small cash gift. I'll send a congratulations to Mary's folks, too. I know some of the GW replies I've received indicate that Susie doesn't need to receive a gift....but I want to repeat that in my opinion, she's watching Mary be the center of attention and watching the family and everyone else spend money on Mary, so I don't want her to be left behind. The girls' mom said they aren't having any showers for Mary until after the baby is born. As I see it, there aren't too many terrible decisions that a person can make that result in parties and gift-giving for them. When's the last time anyone threw a party for someone who, for example, robbed a store or dropped out of high school or took too many drugs? Mary decided she was old enough to handle sex and its consequences and Mary's parents decided to let it happen. Mary's mom took her to the family doctor early on, but when the doctor began discussing sex, Mary's response was "Oh, GROSS! I'm not going to do THAT!" and her parents took her for her word. This pregnancy couldn't have been too much of surprise. My in-laws received a call one morning many months ago, from Mary's mom. Both the mom and dad were at work, and Mary and Susie were home and Mary's boyfriend was there. Could FIL please go check on them? My FIL went over to the house to chaperon and found Mary in pajamas and she and her boyfriend were laying on the couch. When my DH and I heard that story we looked bug-eyed at each other and we agreed it was not IF she'd become a teen mother, but HOW SOON. At the end of the phone conversation with Mary's mom, she said something like - "Yeah, we were thinking of coming down to see you guys -- maybe we can do it in August or something?" Of course I agreed, but I'm wondering if she really believes the whole family, including a newborn and all of the newborn baby gear will be driving 7 hours or if just Mary's parents will come and let a 16-year-old take sole care of the newborn while the folks are away. I'll leave it at that, and hope and pray that the baby has a bright future and long, happy life.

Thanks for thinking of this Vannie, I sent you an email and my card is ready to go soon as you get back to me. Hugs!

I did teach mine to write thank you cards. They were not allowed to play with a gift or cash a check or spend the cash until they had written a decent thank you note. Obviously I sent thank you notes when they were young but once they could write then they did it. The only exception was Christmas morning. However I am truly sad to report that they are all adults and only my DD sends thank you cards. I am still totally embarrassed that my DS and DDIL never sent thank yous for their shower and wedding gifts. I asked my DS and he told me that they were working on them. I didn't bring up the subject with my new DIL because I figured that was her mother's job. At one point I told my son that I didn't care whether DDIL acknowledged her guests but I expected him to write to my guests - a total of 10 cards! If I had know that they would never send them then I would have written those 10 cards myself and handed them over to my son to be signed. There is no excuse.