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I'd tend to call it polite, not old-fashioned. It's not something done often anymore, which is a shame. It should be.
My parents never had us write thank you notes, so when my kids were growing up I never thought of it. Then my husband and I began dating and he did tell me right up front that his family writes thank you notes religiously. I love it. I think it's the least you can do for someone who has taken time out of their life to think of, and purchase something for you.
The kids and I write them now for even the bank teller going to extra mile as to make sure a check we deposit is put in to be available immediately instead of having to wait a day or two for it, the vet tech spending a few extra minutes with us when we've had to have a pet put to sleep, etc. It's just..... polite.
This is one of those things that I feel so bad about not doing! I DO make my daughter call and talk to the person and say thank you, but since I never mail anything, I never have stamps! I know, its a poor excuse.
But, come to think of it, we never get thank you letters either...and quite often not even a phone call. I had mailed my nephew (who is a baby) and my uncle (who is NOT a baby) both gifts and never heard anything from them- but I know we called and spoke and said thank you ( uncle had sent the kids $).
You are right mommiewrites-poor excuse. A call is better then nothing, but a 'note' is something that takes effort and is a wonderful thing to teach our kids. Maybe if you did have them write a note- you in turn would recieve some back
You are right mommiewrites-poor excuse. A call is better then nothing, but a 'note' is something that takes effort and is a wonderful thing to teach our kids. Maybe if you did have them write a note- you in turn would recieve some back
I don't think it would make any difference. I'm happy if we get a call saying thanks (if nothing else it lets me know it arrived!!). Maybe its just something they don't think of?
Like I said, i do require my daughter to call- which means she MAKES the call- not mom calling to say hi and oh by the way, rachel wants to tell you something- she has to do all the work herself!
When my sister and I were growing up (we're now in our 50's) our parents made us write thank-you notes to our relatives whenever we were sent presents (Christmas, birthdays, etc.) We even were made to write an occasional letter to say "hello". My sister has two sons, both in high school. When they were too young to write, we sent them gifts for every occasion. Once they were old enough to write, we told my sister that we'd like to get thank-you notes from her kids to stay in touch. She told us that thank-you notes were no longer in fashion. We told her that they, indeed, still were. So we stopped sending gifts. (I guess my sister and I are both stubborn...) To this day, we rarely hear anything from them unless my sister calls. I've talked to the older son on the phone a few times, but we hardly know our two nephews. I feel sad about that. My sister is Born-Again, we're not. That's no problem for us, but sometimes we feel like she is afraid we'll "brainwash" her kids. (We feel that it is not our business to discuss religion with our nephews)
Any advice, comments?
Nothing wrong with "old fashioned" ~ you say it like it is something bad!! LOL
I always send thank you notes and have my kids do the same. Good manners never go out of style!
Many thanks for all the thoughtful replies, All! We've gone between "Why punish the kids for their mother's parenting" to "They should hopefully learn a good lesson from this". No, we don't elieve good manners are old-fashoined or ever go out of style. And all the new technology is fine, but the effort to write counts for something (and teaches a good skill, wife and I believe).
So I don't think times have changed, but rather some lessons get learned and some lessons go unheeded even when good examples are set.
Yes. Sad but true.
I agree with Mrshvo that it can be interesting to coexist with people who were raised differently.
Just from a practical point of view, it's nice for the giver to know whether or not the gift has been received and not lost in the mail or something
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A call is better then nothing, but a 'note' is something that takes effort and is a wonderful thing to teach our kids. Maybe if you did have them write a note- you in turn would recieve some back 
