Let’s teach our kids the value of thank-you notes

I was recently sharing with some co-workers my trip to a farm with my daughter and all the vegetables we picked. The next day I brought some fresh dill I had picked for one co-worker who said she just loved it. She was thrilled and brought me a cute thank you note the following day.

It got me to thinking. So few people still send or write thank you notes any more. I was brought up to do that and still do. I send notes to family or friends. It lets people know you appreciate the gift, thoughtfulness, or work they put in to something. If it something small it may just be a phone call or an email but I always acknowledge and thank.

My daughter is too young to write but when she is older I want to teach her to write thank you notes. It’ll be fun. I’ll buy special note cards just for her and we’ll do it together. I want to raise a thoughtful and polite person. I think thank you notes is just one part of that.

And who know it may help out in life in a way she’d never expect. When I interviewed for jobs I always sent a handwritten thank you to the person I talked with thanking them for their time and the opportunity to visit with them. I know of two occasions when that cinched the job for me. Now I didn’t do it for that reason but what a nice benefit.

Many years ago I made a new friend, Cynthia. I was training for her new job. At the end of the training she gave me a small gift. I was touched and sent her thank you note. We’ve been good friends ever since. We appreciate each other and let each other know. If I hadn’t sent a thank you would we be friends today? Possibly but I think it made a difference.

So teach your kids, girls and boys, to write thank you’s and pass along a great tradition.