Thank You Notes for holiday presents?

[lizzard]

Hello Everyone

Quick question:

Our 10 week old son received tons of Christmas presents from family/friends. He''s the first grandchild/great-grandchild in the family, so naturally, he was showered with too much stuff! I''m wondering if we should send a thank-you note to each person? What is the proper etiquette? I checked online and couldn''t find a simple, clear answer. Many of the gifts we received were mailed/sent via UPS, etc. so we weren''t able to thank them in person.

Would a simple phone call to say "thank you" suffice?

 

[steph72276]

This is what I would do: for close relatives, I would do a phone call. For friends/not so close relatives, I would send a thank you card. I used to send thank you cards to my in laws and my parents until they both told me I didn't have to do that anymore! I felt weird about not sending anything at first, but I think they enjoy the phone call more now anyway....since my son is older now (5) I let him make the call to say thank you and they love hearing from him!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I think thank you notes are ALWAYS nice. Last year I printed some (vistaprint) with my daughter''s photo on it. I think people got a kick out of that.

 

[lizzard]

Both great suggestions. Thank you! (no pun intended)

Printing out thank you''s with a picture is a great idea. We''ll call our close family/friends to personally thank them, and send a standard note with a picture of our son to our distant family/friends.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Handwritten thank you note sent in the post is proper etiquette.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I wrote thank-you notes every year. Now my kids write them. I include a photo if the person hasn''t been sent one in the christmas card. Even when my kids have birthday parties, they send out cards. Last year my son had 15 kids at his party, so I had him write out 3 cards per day. We also include photos when giving out those cards, too.

I don''t call because that can take hours. lol Cards are easier. I do think online thank yous are tacky (sorry, no offense to those who give those). I always feel like that those are sent to me because the person doesn''t think I''m as important as other guests and wonder if others get cards.

 

[asscherisme]

Date: 12/26/2009 8:47:58 AM
Author:lizzard
Hello Everyone

Quick question:

Our 10 week old son received tons of Christmas presents from family/friends. He''s the first grandchild/great-grandchild in the family, so naturally, he was showered with too much stuff! I''m wondering if we should send a thank-you note to each person? What is the proper etiquette? I checked online and couldn''t find a simple, clear answer. Many of the gifts we received were mailed/sent via UPS, etc. so we weren''t able to thank them in person.

Would a simple phone call to say ''thank you'' suffice?

Absolutely send a thank you note to everyone who sent your son a gift.

Know that my kids are older, I don''t let them play with gifts, spend the gift certifcate or whatever was given until they write a thank you note.

I teach them that if someone took the time to think of them and send them a gift, they can take the time to write a thank you note. And that the person who gets the note will feel good.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Definitely send thank you notes - its really common courtesy to do so, and when your son gets older, you should teach him to do the same - good manners are highly underrated.

 

[Haven]

Date: 12/27/2009 10:24:56 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
Definitely send thank you notes - its really common courtesy to do so, and when your son gets older, you should teach him to do the same - good manners are highly underrated.

Ditto.

 

[tlh]

I am of the oppinion that anytime someone does something nice for you - it deserves recognition. If they bestowed you with a gift - this deserves a written recognition, no matter how close they are to you. I even write thank you notes to my husband... I think why should the people we are closest to get the lax treatment?

However, if you cannot afford the postage or the stationary, a call is MANDATORY. The gift giver should know that you have at the very least received the gift and are apprciative... and if you aren''t.. fake it.

Congrats on the birth of your child!

 

[janinegirly]

same thing happens with our little one who is the only grandchild on my side, and 3rd on the other side.

I always send a handwritten thank you note to each person who sent something. It takes time but it is important to acknowledge each person who made the effort! I even send one to my mom who I see almost every day!

 

[lizzard]

Thanks everyone!

Just to clarify, I always send a thank you note whenever a gift is received. Normally, in my family, we don''t exchange many Christmas presents (only to immediate family and none of us send thank you notes - just call each other). I figured a thank you note was the appropriate thing to do in this situation but just wanted to be sure.

 

[marcy]

I think a hand written thank you note is the polite and courteous thing to do.

A funny side story - my husband was never "made" to write thank you notes growing up and yet my in-laws are the first to complain if they don''t get one.