Start a New Tradition – Thank you emails

 

Christmas is over, the parties are finished and you are exhausted. But the traditional thank you notes haven’t been sent out yet, and they sit like an anvil on the back of your mind. Growing up, thank you notes were always carefully penned on beautiful stationary or tucked inside cute little cards. So much time spent trying to remember what everyone got you, trying to keep it all straight, finding the cards, collecting the addresses, buying stamps and mailing them all out in reasonable time. If you have a long list of thank you notes to send, you might feel like you will never get through it.


But maybe it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Maybe traditional thank you notes aren’t the only way to go. I know I love getting “real” mail, but there are just certain times when that may not work. With the expanding world of technology at your keyboard resting finger tips, the possibilities grow. This year, why not send out e-cards with a thoughtful message, or write out a form email and change the name of the recipient and the gift? There are plenty of online choices for e-cards. My personal favorite is Hallmark.com. But if you don’t have the time or the energy to search through the different options, a nice little email should be just fine. It is always better to do something, then to be too overwhelmed to do anything.
If I were to receive all of my thank you notes online, I would be just as delighted. I believe that in this case, especially for the chronically ill, it truly is the thought that counts. With all the effort you’ve put into the rest of Christmas, give yourself a break in this area and send your appreciation online this year. Who knows? You may even start a new tradition.
Sarah Jane Marshall, Butyoudontlooksick.com, © 2008
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Do you send out email thank you’s or e-cards? (Share your comments below)

  • I have found several virtual card sites, my favorite (as a Catholic being http://franciscancards.com/) and I’ve found it’s a great way to say thank you, happy birthday, happy anniversary, or whatever, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Besides, I like the “personalization” you can do.

  • Huh. I grew up with Christmas the only time you don’t do thank you notes. I was stunned when my cousin’s now-wife sent them out last year. Usually, we just call people or thank them in person. Maybe it’s because there’s usually a mutual exchange for Christmas, unlike for you a birthday or such?

  • Robert Sloan

    This is making me grateful that all our gift-giving was between family members that live together. No one did thank-you notes, we just thanked each other in person at the time we opened the gifts.
    It reminds me of childhood and any number of awkward notes to aunts and cousins and uncles, often for things I really hated or for stuff that was just irrelevant. The ones to my grandparents for all the toys I really wanted tended to run to three or four page missives all about how I played with it and this and that. I didn’t get the knack of formal Thank You Notes, ever, guess it zinged over a boy’s head. Do people really appreciate these formalized notes?
    Robert

  • Great Idea Sarah! I just also wanted to add that sometimes I have emailed friends a picture of whatever gift they have given my daughter so they can see her playing with it etc. If i think of adding it to the email. People always get a kick out of seeing you wear or use what they have bought you!