Do you make your children do 'thank you' cards?

[george83]

So just as the title says really - do you make your children write out thank you cards/notes for presents from friends and family? I've always done them for birthdays and Christmas but this year my 5 year old spent the first 10 minutes moaning and - especially as we never get any in return for any of the presents we give out - I started to wonder if I was being mean making my kids do them? Thanks in advance

 

[Symphony7]

Always a good thing to teach your children to show outward gratitude regardless of how others respond in the same situation. A five year old may moan and complain, but the lesson lives on longer when they are an adult.

 

[Scout]

I do them now since dd is only 3, but when she is old enough to write, she will do them. It's definitely not mean. Kids moan! Mine does now when I make her pick up her toys, but i do it (even though I could do it myself a lot faster) because she needs to learn to clean up after herself. Same with thank you cards.

My sister never made her kids and it drives me nuts when I send them a birthday card with money and never hear anything about it. Her kids are 13, 19, and 22, so definitely old enough and should know better, but they were never taught. I always have to wonder if they got it. I think it's rude to not send a card; unless, of course, you thanked them in person.

 

[DCS]

We always thank people in person. E.g at christmas both kids thanked nannie after each present, then before she left they said thank you again. I always follow it up with a thank you text. We often send whatsapp voice messages to people we havnt seen.

 

[luci and bump]

My DD and SD are both 4, but I make sure they both say thank you for their presents, either in person, or we make a little video of them saying thank you and send it on WhatsApp. It makes me cross when children aren't prompted to say thank you. My great grannie stopped sending gifts/money to my cousins when we were younger, because they never said thank you!!

 

[sabby52]

My boys always thank friends and family in person

 

[SpringerS]

We always do it in person or if he was sent a gift from someone abroad I arrange to skype when DS opens the gift so they can see his excitement and gratitude as he gets it. On the very, very rare occasion where that's not possible I video him opening the gift and saying thank you and send that to the giver. Thank you cards might be traditional but that's only because they originated in an era where they were the only real way to communicate with people who weren't present. Nowadays we have many other options that are, imo, more fun and personal.

 

[Bevziibubble]

We usually thank in person but thank you cards are a good thing to do if you can't thank in person. I was made to write thank you cards/ letters when I was younger and although I didn't really like doing it at the time I am glad they made me do it as I do think it's rude to not even have some acknowledgement that someone has even received your gift.

 

[JessyG]

We do thank you cards for the peope we dont see at christmas. Otherwise we just thank them on the day. X

 

[x_WelshGirl_x]

We thank people in person. Alex will always say thank you when he's given something. Scarlett is 2 in 2 weeks and has lately started saying thank you when we tell her to.
I was never made to write thank you cards but I'd always thank those who gave me anything.

 

[lau86]

I do them at the moment, but the short answer is yes. I used to sit for ages writing a long winded 'interesting' letter as a child, I don't think that's necessary and a generic 'thank you for the gift, happy new year' will suffice. I do picture cards now so they're a bit more personal. I think it's helpful as people sending gifts know we've received them

 

[jd83]

We just thank them in person at Christmas. The only time we'd send a thank you card at Christmas is if someone mailed a gift for whatever reason, rather than getting to see them. We always do thank you cards for birthday gifts, though.

 

[misspriss]

We thank them in person at Christmas, thank you cards for birthdays or other occasions. I was never taught to do them for Christmas and I have never, ever received one. I just don't think it is done here.