It's Thank-You Time Y'all!

I hope that y'all enjoyed the holiday season and were able to spend time with your family and friends. Now that all of the gifts have been unwrapped, proper etiquette dictates that you send a thank-you note for gifts you received. This is the perfect time to teach children that presents are given to them as acts of kindness and thank-you notes are appropriate. To be perfectly proper, thank-you notes should be written on 'monogrammed notes' or 'correspondence cards.' Please do not e-mail your thank-you note--that is an etiquette faux pas. Begin your note by telling the person how thoughtful they are and how they always find the perfect gift for you. Mention the gift and how you will use it. Close by thanking them again!

Failure to write a thank-you note is an etiquette faux pas and it will be remembered! For those of you who need a little help with your notes, The Art of Thank You, by Connie Leas is an excellent reference book. This book has many meaningful ways to say thank you. It explains why we write thank-you notes, when to send a thank-you note, what stationery to use for thank-you notes, and how to compose a thank-you note. Remember, you will never go wrong sending a thank-you note!

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

William Arthur Ward