Give Thanks and More Thanks

No, this is not a Thanksgiving post...but Fall is in the air! Lovin' it!!

Growing up, my mother was big on thank you notes. If we received a gift from Grandma, she reminded, "Write your thank you note". If we were given a special gift for graduation or Christmas, again, "Don't forget to send a thank you." After my wedding, do you know how many times my mother said, "Are your thank you notes done yet?" I was so excited to call my mother after the last thank you note was written and say, "Yes, Mother. My thank you notes are complete!!!" 

The thank you note habit has stuck, thanks to my mother's stick-to-it-ive-ness; and you guessed it, I've passed it along to my children. I feel strongly about this, especially when they don't have the opportunity to say thank you in person. If they receive a birthday gift from Aunt K. in New York (and she's soooo good about that - gifts and thank yous), they should send a thank you note (or at least a thank you email - not as good, but better than nothing). 

When my son received his Eagle Scout Award a few years ago, he received several gifts. 

The Eagle Scout with his Grandmothers...

Like Grandma, I nagged him about writing his thank yous and he wrote them. Some may say that a parent shouldn't nag. I disagree. We're not nagging to nag. We're shaping, molding, encouraging, forming, building and teaching. The note may be the "outward appearance" but the internal feeling of gratitude is what I'm after. When blessings are received, do we feel gratitude? Shouldn't we thank those who bless our lives? Most importantly, do we want our children to thank Heavenly Father for all that He gives us? Encourage gratitude or giving thanks - in ALL things.

Over the summer, we received a tremendous blessing from Sam's Aunt and Uncle. They have a beautiful home in California that we stayed in while they were out of town. This saved us a bundle of money and gave us an ideal environment for our entire family to enjoy. It was long overdue, but for our Family Home Evening activity, we wrote a family thank you...

Mom...are you proud of me?

I love getting thank you notes from my kids - unsolicited! Here are two of the latest (spelling not corrected):

"Dear Mom,
Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for helping me with everything. This card is worth 1 hour of waching kids and 2 chores whatever you want. You are the best Mom ever. There is no refunds so don't lose this. Happy Mothers Day again. Love, B."

And another...

"I love you Mom. Your so helpful and thank you for helping me with my memorization. Love, S."


Gratitude Ideas:

• Like mentioned above, use your family night activity to write notes of gratitude. 
• Sunday afternoons - a perfect time to encourage thank you writing.
• Send a thank you home in the treat bags after a birthday party.
• For young children, print out multiple generic thank you cards and have them sign their name.
• Make it part of their responsibilities: "As soon as your thank you note is written, you may play outside."
• Many times, writing a thank you note can be used to pass off a goal for scouting or church programs. 
• Again, for young children, have them draw a picture, attach a picture of the child, write "Thank You" and send it off. 
• Get creative: I borrowed a bag of marshmallows from a neighbor. I returned a bag a few days later with lifesaver mints taped all around with a note, "Thanks! You're a lifesaver." That same neighbor just borrowed a cube of butter. They brought us cookies in return.
• An email thank you can be a quick way to express gratitude. Better to express it than not!
• Just do it.

I'm overdue on some notes of gratitude...better get to work!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!