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Manners Matter: Thank You Notes Are Not Old Fashioned

 

Dear Mary Pat,

I have a large family and I give/send gifts to nearly everyone, including my 19 nieces and nephews. It takes me a good amount of time to plan my gift list, purchase the gifts, wrap them, and send them for the ones who live out of town. While we were all unwrapping our gifts, my sister-in-law said that she’s too busy to get her kids to write thank you notes and she hopes we are all good with “verbal thank yous” instead. Some others agreed but I said that there’s always time for thank you notes. She rolled her eyes and said that they are so old fashioned. How are thank you notes old fashioned and how hard is it to write one anyway?

Signed,

It’s Right to Write

Ephraim, Wis.

 

 

Dear It’s Right to Write,

Your sister-in-law is wrong. It’s not old fashioned and most people still expect and very much appreciate a thank you note. Handwritten thank you notes are best and should be sent out within a couple of days of receiving a gift. We are all busy but if you have time to open a gift, you’ve got time to write a thank you. How long does it take to pen a note? Two minutes? Three minutes tops, if you count addressing the envelopes.

You have a little more time to send thank you notes after a wedding, but it is a manners myth to think that you have a year to do so. After the honeymoon, newlyweds need to put thank you notes on the “to do” list. Guests spent time and money to pick out the perfect gift and the bride and groom can spend two minutes to write a personal note of thanks. Write out 10 a night and in a little over a week you’ll have them all done. The quicker the notes get posted, the more they will be appreciated.

Good luck,

Mary Pat

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