To let me daughter put 'no address' letters in the post box every few days? Or is it causing too much extra work for Royal Mail?

[FiveSugarsPlease]

My daughter is 5 and has HFA.

For the past few months, she's been telling me about a teddy bear friend called Jerren who lives in Africa. She likes to draw pictures and letters for him.

For the past few weeks, she's been wanting to post them each time. I agreed to this as i thought there was no harm. It's just 2-3 sheets of paper in the post box each week that can be recycled/put in the bin quite easily, and it keeps a little girl happy.

But posting one of the pictures today, a man and lady stopped me and said i was causing a lot of extra work for Royal Mail by littering the post box with nonsense.

DD tried to explain to the lady about her bear friend, i tried to subtly explain, too. The couple just rolled their eyes and walked off.

I'm now wondering if I'm BU letting dd post these letters? She'll be heartbroken if i make her stop before she's ready or before this phase naturally wears off. But if it's some sort of crime and/or giving the postal workers extra work, I should stop, yes?

Opinions would be very much appreciated.

I would let her do it..they sound like miserable swines IMO

The couple are joyless wankers.

What's it to do with them anyway? Ignore.

Could you send them to friends and family who could write back? Yes it'll cost the price of a stamp. But stops your dd littering the post box and encourages interaction.

What if you had an address for Jerren? Not in Africa but he might write back.

Put it in an envelope, write someone's address on it & they can send her back a nice letter/picture

I'll do it if you have no-one suitable

No do not stop! That's lovely and i'm sure there's a lot worse posted!

Oooh I'll be Jerren if you like

Your DD sounds lovely and that couple sound like horrid old grinches.

I knew a postie aaaages ago, he said there were all sorts of weird things posted in letterboxes. He once found a worn bra and pants. That kind of puts Jerren into perspective.

I'd go with the suggestions of getting a real address and replies, though.

Could you make a special mail box together at home and then see if Jerren replies?
Pair of miseries saying it was extra work for the postman.

Well, i guess it would cause a bit more work. Hmm, couldn't you post it to someone instead. They could write back? You could try and get her a penpal too if she likes writing letters.

That's a lovely offer, thank you. I've suggested this to dd, too. But she tells me Jerren can't write back because he's just a teddy bear

And she draws a picture of his house on the back of her pictures/letters, rather than write an address. I've tried writing the address of one of her relatives on it, but she threw a fit and said i'd ruined everything.

I know the couple have a point though. And Royal Mail are already under lots of pressure.

I went along with this in the beginning because i thought it would only last a short while, and she'd get bored.

But what if it carries on 'til Christmas when there's lots of mail etc? Royal Mail will truly hate visiting my local post box.

YANBU but could you put the letters in an envelope and address it to a friend or relative and let them know? Then it would be treated as normal mail and your dd could carry on posting the letters. I would imagine they just get chucked in the bin which seems a shame. if I had a 5 y.o. friend/relative I'd enjoy receiving their pictures and letters.

I reckon there are plenty of badly addressed letters that cause far more extra work for Royal Mail than your dd's notes.

Agree with what others have said.

I bet the postman love reading her letters to Jerren, something different isn't it?

Actually i bet there is all sorts posted, never thought of that.

I bet MN could find you a 'Jerren' in Africa. Have you seen (in Classics) the thread about pen pals for someone's little boy? Have a look and maybe PM someone who lives somewhere exotic...

Keep bumping this and post in Living Overseas. Good luck. The mean couple will probably both stub their toes. Or something. Bad bear karma.

My daughter went through this phase so I would use per paid envelopes like the ones you get with junk mail. The company would then get a lovely picture from my daughter.

*Pre paid

x-posted with Jerren being a bear and unable to reply. Silly me

That is ridiculous, interfering miserable trouts.

Your daughter sounds adorable, and probably makes the postman smile if anything!

I would also love to be Jerren if you would like someone to write back to her

Maybe Jerren has a friend who might reply on his behalf?

We had a child at nursery who did this. Her consultant advised that we humoured it, so we let her do it once a week until the postman threatened to stop collecting the nurseries mail if we kept putting 'crap' in there.

So we came up with the plan of letting her write to her doll and writing an address on a sticky label while she did it. We then slyly stick the label on as she posted it. It worked well (albeit a lot of the labels were wonky!)

Would that work?

I'd imagine nobody cares unless someone in the sorting office has children and thinks awwww when they see it.

I'm wondering how or why someone engaged you in conversation about what you were posting.
I would have been inclined to tell them mind their own business.
For all they know you had a stamp on it.

I can do good paw prints....feel free to pm if you would like a postcard. I'm not in Africa though but could look for a lion or bear on the picture.