Have we lost the art of saying thank you?
I am struggling with a few things this week and I am not sure how to handle them…..
I was raised to say thank you always! When I was a kid we did not get to play with our birthday/Christmas/any other time of the year gifts until we had written our thank you cards. This started from the point that we could take a crayon and draw a line across the card. They had to show some acknowledgement from us.
To this day I still hear my Mom’s voice in my head each time I receive a gift or do something that may need a thank you card. I have a stack of personalized thank you cards on my desk so I am always prepared.
Trust me there are times I am not as with it as I should be but I truly try to say thank you in some way, shape or form. In this day and age it is so easy to say thank you with Facebook, text message or a phone call.
I am not trying to sound like the princess of thank you notes or anything along those lines so please do not think I am preaching from a soap box. I just really wonder if we have lost the art of saying thank you.
Not just for gifts but for acts of kindness, service from a waiter or waitress, someone opening the door for you. So many times during the day there is an opportunity to say thank you.
It is such an easy two words to say. It barely takes a breath to get it out with a smile yet I rarely hear it anymore.
Has receiving gifts become an expectation instead of a gift?
Are we so busy in our lives that the simple two words of thank you are too much to deal with?
I honestly wonder and would love to know your thoughts. Have we lost the art of saying thank you or is it just something that we need to remember to do more often?
Colleen says
A couple months ago I made several baby gifts and sent to my sister-in-law’s nephew and his wife ( who I’ve never met.) A few days later I received a nice Thank You note in the mail. A couple days ago I finished sewing some baby items for my step-daughter’s sister (who I’ve known since she was a baby) and even took time to deliver them to her house. Not only did she not even say Thank You, but she didn’t even bother to look at the gift while I was there! Needless to say I was more than put out!
Tammilee says
The power of a thank you note is amazing. I am so sorry your stepdaughter’s sister wasn’t receptive to the gift.
Ashley Sears says
I was raised down South and please and thank you is practically taught to you since birth. I am NEVER too busy to show appreciation. It goes a really long way. I think the problem lies in we are so busy and so many are self involved all they think bout is the me. We need to appreciate each other and have more empathy. Great post!
Patti Purelli says
I, like you, was raised this way and try to instill the same in my children. Like you said it’s a lost art. As far as day-to-day life goes I ALWAYS try to say thank you and be polite and kind to others ~ Life is too short.
Michelle says
I always send a thank you note for anything, but I know that there are people that do not. It really shocks me too when I hear that people do not send thank you cards for bridal or baby showers. I was raised to say thank you for everything, so I guess my momma did right! Great post, thank you for saying what I was thinking!
Tammilee says
Michelle, I am so glad you enjoyed the post! I have been thinking about this for a while and just had to put it out there. I love that your mom taught the value of thank you cards!
Tamara Wilson says
I do think on many people it is lost. What we do is when ever the kids get any type of gift they write a thank you card or a note to the person. If they get money as a gift they tell what they spent the money on, my MIL always send cash to them and I feel that she should be told what they bought as their gift from her. So I have them write a note then I take a picture of them with whatever they bought and we mail it to her. We also have them give her a call and say thank you when they first get the card from her.
To me If I don’t teach them to appreciate things then no one will. I refuse to let these kids feel entitled to anything.
Tammilee says
Tamara, I love this! I love that you send photos with the gift. That is so wonderful! What a great way for the grandparents to feel appreciated but also have an updated photo.