I was raised to believe that writing Thank You notes is an essential part of receiving a gift. How will the giver know you even received the gift if you don’t acknowledge it? How will they know you appreciate it without a handwritten, preferably mailed and thoughtful note?

As much as I found this task boring, I did become convinced of the value in investing the time to express gratitude for gifts; small to large, thoughtful to less-so.

I spent our honeymoon flight penning over 100 individual thank you notes for gifts received over the previous weeks leading to our wedding. My husband might have been a touch disappointed in my task-focused choice…

Now that I am the parent, I continue the cycle of instructing my children to compose these letters of gratitude. As the holiday season has passed, early January is the season of sending our thanks. My six year old daughter penned a note to her dad and me for her “big present”- a large plastic lantern that stores a fairy doll and has some interactive elements.

I submit for the SN community’s mutual enjoyment and laughs- potentially the best thank you note, certainly the funniest, I have received.