Thank you notes

torneen · August 2013

Did you send thank you notes for your little one's first birthday presents? I know it is the polite thing to do... but a lot has changed. I have not always received them from others when we attend their kiddos birthday parties, and I don't have an opinion either way. I understand (now more than ever) how busy you are when you have a toddler running around and how hard it can be to sit down and write out thank you notes. Anyway... I am just taking a poll to see how many people do or do not send out thank you notes after their kids birthday parties. I will probably end up writing them all this weekend, but I am just curious.

GavinIsMyBabyBear · August 2013

i sent ones to the grandparents... everyone else got a thank you through facebook... his party was on sunday and i just finished them today

tonychelle · August 2013

I sent them.

JENandJEH · August 2013

Yes, I sent them even though I rarely get thank you notes from others. How I grew up. It is just something you do and is non-negotiable for me.

Katie829 · August 2013

Yes. I always send them for everything. I also always remember who doesn't send them to me.

mnb311 · August 2013

I sent them for my LO's birthday, I ALWAYS send thank you notes. That's how I was raised and I think its very rude not to send them especially for birthday parties when people go out of their way and spend money time and thoughts on a gift. Just because other people have bad manners doesn't mean I'm going to change!

p.s.- maybe in other areas people are different but here in the south its important to us

tbmadeamistake · August 2013

I sent super simple ones, that pretty much just said "C says thank you for her present" and then had C scribble on them. Super easy and everyone loved that C had written on them.

MrsJetSet · August 2013

Yes. They were not that detailed.. Thanks for x present dd plays with it a lot. It was great to see you. Love Mrsjetset family

allardr · August 2013

JENandJEH said:

Yes, I sent them even though I rarely get thank you notes from others. How I grew up. It is just something you do and is non-negotiable for me.

This. I will ALWAYS send them.

FemShep · August 2013

Any time you don't open a present in front of the giver and thank them immediately, a thank you note is required IMHO.

unaveragejane · September 2013

I sent them, but I have a friend who didn't. She did party favors with homemade personalized decorated cookies and a "thank you for attending" kind of tag, so I figure that was her version of cards. Personally I like sending some kind of thank you. My SIL has her kids and step-kids always call to thank us when we send them birthday cards and money, and I really appreciate it.

meglette417 · September 2013

I did not, my family is big on thank you's and I do for everything but growing up we never did for birthdays or Christmas. We opened the presents in front of everyone and thanked them as we opened.

hodorhodorhodor · September 2013

I hate doing them, but I always do them.

LindseyH033 · September 2013

Yes I sent them. I uploaded a picture of dd from her bday party to walmarts photo center online and then just picked a cute, generic, thank you message. It was super easy, done in an hour, and everyone loved them.

amarie923 · September 2013

Same here with the picture thank you's - upload a cute pic from the day to tiny prints, walmart, walgreens, shutterfly, etc., etc., with a generic "Thank you for celebrating my big day!" kind of message. This way they have a picture and a thank you :-)

dragon_chica · September 2013

allardr said:

JENandJEH said:

Yes, I sent them even though I rarely get thank you notes from others. How I grew up. It is just something you do and is non-negotiable for me.

This. I will ALWAYS send them.

Ditto. We had two separate parties for the kids last year since it was DS's 1st. Their birthdays are 2 weeks apart so we had two parties 2 weeks apart from each other. Approx. 25 families for one and 50 for the other. And yet I still managed to send out TY cards to everyone in a timely manner. It's doable even with a child (or two) in your household. It's up to you if this etiquette is important enough to you and not necessarily because you don't want to put in the time.

dragon_chica · September 2013

Oh, and society is ever changing. It's not an excuse to not be kind and considerate towards others.

melody921 · September 2013

We haven't done the 1st bday party yet. But I always send them. I feel that if others can take the time to pick out a gift and come celebrate with our family, I can take 5 minutes (or less) to write a note. I get that life is busy, but I sit down after the kids are in bed and knock out a few a night. They're typically done in a week or less.

blu-eyedwife · September 2013

mnb311 said:

p.s.- maybe in other areas people are different but here in the south its important to us

I don't think etiquette is a regional thing. I agree with the others. Thank you cards on non-negotiable. Yeah, they're a pain in the butt to do, but someone took time out of their schedule to think of you/your child and get something/attend your event. You enjoyed their presents/presence and it seems like a very small inconvenience for the thoughtfulness of someone else.

torneen · September 2013

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the input. I did finish them this weekend on our drive to the beach.

dragon_chica · September 2013

theresat858 said:

I sent them.

If you have a reasonable sized party, it is not hard to write thank you notes. If your LO's first birthday is as big as a wedding, you have other issues.

And what issues would this be? It's very customary in Asian cultures to have large first birthday parties. Does that mean Asians have "issues?" Or, the fact that DH has a large family that lives locally and the ones that live farther (2 hours away) are more than happy to drive down to celebrate because that's how tight-knit his family is? So do they have "issues" wanting to share in this memory?

Rooberrywaffles · September 2013

I didn't send Thank you notes. I made Thank you phone calls.

We don't have Birthday parties instead we take them to do something fun for the day. We live far from our families so their gifts come by mail.

)

melmelangel4 · September 2013

We sent pre-printed photo cards that said the same thing to each person. It's better than nothing:) I have a lot of friends with the same aged children and they always send notes so I would feel bad if i didn't!

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