Sharing Gratitude

I can remember it fondly. My three sweet children used to skip through our house chanting “Please and thank you, they’re the magic words…please and thank you, ’cause they’re the magic words.”

Those words were indeed magical and fun. Now that I think about it, I owe a lot to a certain purple dinosaur for introducing that song in our family. Unfortunately, though, as the kids got older, we stopped singing – and sometimes saying – those words at all.

As embasrrasing as it is to admit this, please is typically replaced with a phrase that begins with “Do it.” And thank you, well, do eye rolls count? Confession time: I don’t know when the last time my kids or I wrote thank you notes. I think for them it may have been a kindergarten birthday party, and for me, well, my wedding?

The irony of it all is that we really are thankful and appreciative and happy when those in our circle do something nice for us. We just don’t always show it. And when I write “we,” I’m including myself, because, well, in the midst of life’s ups and downs, I’m not always the picture of please or thank you.

I’ve noticed though, that today in our tech savvy world, when we do show it, we are sending a quick “Thx” via text or Facebook or the ever-more personal Bitmoji.

This may be a cute way to say thank you via text message, but it should be an exception rather than the rule when showing gratitude.

Somehow, I don’t think this is what my mother had in mind when she taught me etiquette lessons regarding thank you notes years ago. Earlier this year, our family opted to participate in a kindness project. I wrote about it here. If you haven’t read the back-story, just know that by opted, I really mean that I announced to the internet that we were not kind at all. Since then, we began practicing intentional acts of kindness but something was missing.

Gratitude.

Recently, we had the opportunity to partner with Basic Invite as we rediscovered the art of writing thank you notes. Handwritten ones. That have envelopes. And can be affixed with a stamp and arrive via the U.S. Postal service.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was exactly what our family needed to help us say what should have been said a long time ago. Anything but basic, Basic Invite is stationary company known for breathtaking wedding invitations, but they also feature unique and stunning birth announcements, baby shower invitations, first birthday invitations, graduation announcements, and thank you notes.

Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 160 different color options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it. Speaking of colors, they also have more than 40 different colors of envelopes which can help your invitation or announcement stand out before it is even opened. And best of all – the envelopes are peel and seal so they can be quickly and securely closed without having to lick a single one. Trust me, your tongue will thank you.

If you’d like a sample of your design, Basic Invite allows you the ability to order one so you can see exactly how it will print as well as the outstanding paper quality before placing that order.

One look at their website and we were inspired to do better. So we did. And our thank you notes went a long way. While we didn’t have anything in particular happening this summer with parties or showers or fancy events, we did go on vacation with my parents and cousins to our family homestead in Mississippi. The weekend was fun, full of love and laughter, and considering all of the craziness in the world, the words thank you were a great way to show our appreciation to my parents for orchestrating these memories for us.

We reviewed basic letter writing techniques before we began writing our notes. The thank you cards were dated properly and included greetings to Gran and Papaw.

The rules for writing included: no emojis, no text language, and use your best handwriting. After shooting me the side eye a few times, I think they started to understand that the art of the thank you note lies within the experience for the person receiving the thank you.

The actual notes included the words thank you and a specific memory from the weekend. They then included a hearfelt message about how they feel about their grandparents. We used a proper closing and made sure the envelopes were addressed and affixed with first class postage.

And in the end, gratitude wins with warm hearts and overflowing joy for two grandparents who live 1,000 miles from their only grandchildren. Yep. gratitude definitely wins.

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19 thoughts on “Sharing Gratitude”

I really love this post. My mom raised me to write thank you cards each time someone does something thoughtful for me or gives me a gift. I still keep up the habit to this day. It is so disappointing when you put so much effort into finding someone the perfect gift, and they don’t even acknowledge it with a thank you. Thank you for sharing this post, I hope it inspires more people to use their manners!

Showing gratitude is so important. As long as you can you think of one thing you are thankful for each day, your world will change. XOXO

Gratitude is huge! We are still writing our wedding thank you’s five months after the fact because we wanted to personalize each one.

Gratitude is a biggie and one that we all should practice daily. Either saying thanks to others formally or informally or just thinking in your head about what you are happy about for that day!

I love that you are teaching this to your children! Saying thank you and gratitude is very important!

Not only is thank you and please a dying art but so is handwritten letters. All three of those acts do make people feel special and respected!

I definitley have my kids send thank you to any friends that bring them a gift for their birthday but I sometimes forget to send them to aunts and uncles. I really need to fix that but I hope that since they are family they will love me anyway!

Thank you so much for passing this habit on to your children! In a take everything for granted time, I appreciate the time and effort when someone goes to the trouble to say thank you. I love receiving thank you notes from my grown children!

I have always preferred handwritten notes over a text, email, or messages via social networks. A simple thank you note goes a long way! 🙂 – HilLesha

I have to admit I am not good at thank you notes! My husband is excellent though, thank goodness, and he taught me a lot about how to write them after our wedding! It is so important to show gratitude!

It’s so important to teach our kids to thank people- the right way! I love writing thank you notes and I love cute stationary.

I love this! I can remember growing up my Mom making me write handwritten thank you notes. It is something I’ve never done with my kids and need to.

I love this! My mom has always had us write thank you notes and I think it is an amazing experience!

Love this!!! I’m all about gratitude! If you’re thankful for what you have more fabulousness will come your way!

I always make my kids write thank you notes and they still complain. I wish they would realize the importance of this. I will continue to make them do it until they start doing it on their own. (But admittedly, they are really good about thanking people in person).

This is so important. I have to say, I’m awful at doing thank you notes – especially handwritten. I need to get better.

I remember the old days of me and my hubby, we used to write appreciation notes to each other. That’s so sweet!

Thank you notes are definitely something we need to work on. My littles are starting to write now, so I want them to start participating in this and make it a good habit.