The art of saying thank you is so very important, and I feel with our hurried lives we miss the boat on stopping and saying thanks. Emily Post and my mom would be quite disappointed.
I have to admit that I have never been the best at writing thank you notes. Well, I take that back. Many times I take the time to write the notes, but the addressing, stamping, and sending is what fails me time and time again.
So, how can I find the time to say a genuine and heartfelt thank you in this microwave-instant gratification world?
Here are a few simple ideas to make saying thanks a whole lot easier.
Birthday Thank You
These seem to be the hardest; can I get an amen? With birthdays there is a whirlwind of opening presents before one or all of the kiddos break down into fits of frenzy brought on by the mass of toys and tissue paper. So it takes all of my mama power to write down or at least remember which gift came from what person. This year I started sending birthday thank yous through text or email. (I know. Gasp!) I knew I was against the norm, but I tested the waters and, to my surprise, everyone who received a simple text was happy. You see, I took a picture of the birthday boy or girl playing with a specific gift and used a photo editing app to add a personal thank you to the photo. (I love ABM – A Beautiful Mess.) Here is one of the photo thanks I sent earlier this year for Layla Jean’s birthday. (To say this girl was happy about her new baby would be an understatement. You can see it in her eyes: THANK YOU!)
Notes of Thanks to Friends
I LOVE my girlfriends, and I know I don’t tell them how awesome they are near enough! Our girlfriends hear us talk about everything–the good, the bad, the hilarious–so why not send them a note every once in a while to say “thanks for helping get me through this crazy day, week, month, year.” One of my lovelies is going to be receiving this card from HMK this week.
Hostess Gifts
I feel this is a a form of thank you that has been widely forgotten yet is so important. We are all invited to homes for dinners, girls’ nights, or parties throughout the year. As you all know, it is a lot of work having guests over. Why not revive this old form of thank you with me? It doesn’t have to take the form of flowers or wine anymore. My favorite hostess gift right now is something so simple and so cute to put together. I like to grab a good bottle of Olive Oil and wrap it in a Williams Sonoma kitchen towel with some jute, ta-dah, a cute and simple thank you.
Hubbies
Marriage is tough especially for those of us who are parents of littles. So, all the more reason why a simple thank you is important. Today go ahead and think of a few things your hubby does for your family and write them down. Write one on a post-it, one on a napkin, and one on the mirror. Place these simple notes of thanks where your hubby will find them throughout the day. I guarantee he will feel loved and grateful to have a thoughtful wife.
Teaching Your Kids to Say “Thanks”
We work hard every day teaching our kiddos to be polite and say their please and thank yous. We have a sense of pride when they are able to be polite without our prodding (mom win!). How wonderful would it be to instill a thankful spirit in our children in the form of a written note? Yes, this takes time out of the crazy day to sit down and focus for a few minutes.
My adorable sister-in-law found these cute-as-can-be personalized note cards and gave them to my kiddos for Christmas this year. If I am being honest, I initially thought, “so cute, but when are these going to be used? I don’t have that kind of time.” I was severely mistaken. After a sweet time with the grands, we sat down to write out a thank you in their fun new cards. I helped the kids write their name, trace their hand, and I scribed their precious words of thanks. Both of my kids were beyond thrilled to hand deliver these notes of thanks and asked who we were going to write next.
Wow, an eagerness to say thank you; now that is a lesson from my children. There is always time in the day to say a simple thanks and always time in the week or month to spend a few extra moments drafting or creating a thank you.
How do you say thanks? What are some creative ways you stay on top of saying thank you?
