Thank you notes
We often comment about the lack of formality -- even the lack of acknowledgment, for gifts, be they for birthdays, weddings or other occasions. I just wanted to say all hope is not lost. Friday evening, my son brought me one of the best thank you notes I have ever received -- from a self-motivated student in one of his choirs.
When my son returned to school after having covid, he asked if I might bake something to say thank to the teachers who helped cover his classes and suggested snickerdoodles. My son was finishing a cookie as one of his classes came into the choir room and I guess they were curious and maybe a bit envious, especially when someone asked where he got them and he told them the cookies were homemade. Part of the day's agenda was to talk about having to work hard and make up for lost time before an upcoming performance. My son told the class that if they worked hard, got ready and were sounding as good as he knew they could, he could get them some cookies too. He told me about it so I had fair warning -- and a chuckle.
The kids got their snickerdoodles Thursday. One of the girls came up to my son and asked, "who made the cookies -- your mom, right?" He said yes, and she told him, "I'm going to write her a thank you note!" And she did. She not only thanked me for making the cookies for them, she thanked me for letting my son go into music and for raising him to be a good, funny, awesome person. Complete with the cutest drawing. It definitely goes in my Thank You Note Hall of Fame.
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Comments (61)Maybe this is way off base, but what's wrong with picking up the phone and calling to confirm receipt of the gift? I think I'd just forget about the emails and call and just ask if the gift had been received and state my concerns, as if I'd never even sent the email. In other words, I'd act on the assumption (whether true or false) that the emails had not been read. If she said anything about the emails I'd just say, Oh, since I didn't hear back from you I figured they hadn't gone through. On the topic of Thank you notes, I'm not as nice as gellchom (I already knew that!). I'm one who thinks that people who don't send thank you notes don't need any more gifts. So... here's my story of an ungrateful recipient. A daughter of a friend's apartment caught on fire, she escaped with her life and singed eyebrows! Several of uss dug into our closets to give her some basic items to help her make a new start, I gave sheets, a lamp, some other odds & ends. Subsequently she got pregnant. I (along with others) gave her a baby shower and a very nice gift. I gave her a gift when I visited her in the hospital, and another gift when I visited her later at her mother's house. For all of this I received no thank you note. Neither did any of the other shower-givers. I felt like I'd done a lot for this girl and yet she could not take a moment to sit down and write even one note to me. A few months later she got married. I attended the wedding but gave no gift. I figured I'd about done all I needed to for this girl. Thank you notes are important. As has been said above, the giver has given time, effort and expense to you and the few minutes it takes to write a note is not a lot to ask. And it should be done in a timely manner. A year is not timely. I'm afraid that gifts have become expected so that some people think they are owed. That's too bad. A gift isn't supposed to cover the cost of attendance at the wedding or meet any other criteria except that it should be given from the heart. And I agree that I'm not giving a gift in order to receive anything in return per se, but if I give from the heart and don't feel that the recipient has similar feelings in his/her heart for me, it doesn't make me want to rush out and buy yet another gift for that person. A thank you note is such a simple and easy way for a recipient to say, I appreciate and return your feelings. Both of my sons were raised to send thank you notes for all gifts. They both had to address the envelopes themselves as well as write the note (when they were old enough to). My older son writes great notes which have humor and gratitude. My younger son tends to write two line notes. But either way, they understand the importance of the written note....See Moreremember the posts on thank you notes and save the date magnets?
Comments (1)That's funny, gellchom!...See More
lascatx
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agolascatx
2 years agolascatx
2 years ago
maire_cate