to not make my 5 yo sign his thank you cards?

[anothervisittothepark]

Is it really frowned upon if he doesnt sign then himself? We have 30 to write and i dont think he will sit and sign 30 cards! Am thinking i will just do them myself.

of course not at 5 lots of dc cannot write at that age anyway!

tbh its nice to do thank you cards, many do not and also its just a good way of getting them to write.

maybe if he can wrte get him to do a few token ones then you do them,.

You could space them out to about 5 per day and they'll be done within a week. It is important to teach kids about the importance of thank you cards.

30 in one sitting is a bit much for a 5 year old though.

Gosh that's a lot of cards to sign.

Would he do 5 a day for a treat? I always find bribery works

Sorry x posted Bul

Just get him to do his name 30 times, it is good for him to do them.

Thanks. I noticed that almost every child who came to party signed their card so thought it must really be the done thing. I have written all the cards. Thinking i may get him to sign a few and i can forge the rest!! Or maybe thats a bit desparate!

What about a painty handprint as a signature?

Personally I think it is ok for you to do them.

I got them to sign their name once and scan it in then either produce typed thank you cards (mail merge) or print out lots of stickers with his signature on and stick them on.

Ye gods why n earth is it important to teach kids the "importance of thank you cards" rather than the importance of saying thank you? Are you writing thank you cards to the 30 kids who came to his whole class party, who presumably thanked in person on the day? Get him to phone people who post them if he knows them well (grandparents hundreds of miles away) and thank people face to face, then surely he won't have 30 people to write to... I so loathed the torture of my mother'sthank you card shshowy perfectionism as a child that my heart sank at the book tokens and handkerchiefs from well meaning hardly known adults I'd shortly be made to write "newsy" thank you letters to... Never made my kids writethem, but they do SAY thank you...

Oh gosh, we don't do thank you cards for school friends coming to parties or indeed have we ever received them from parties. We do thank you cards for family and DD might write her name (5yo) or she'll draw on the front of the card. I limit it to key people only.

5 year olds not being able to write their own name 30 times?! Really? I'm quite shocked. Learning difficulties aside, I don't think that's much to ask. As pp have said, 5 a day... My oldest dc is much younger and can write his name without much fuss. At 5 I'd expect a child to write the name of the recipient and their own name.

It's sounds tedious to me. I'd write them yourself of or print them. Signing one card for a party is totally different to one kid signing 30 times. It'll be much easier at 6 than it is at 5.

Oh. I am new to school partys. Would it seem very ott to do thank yous?

I assumed it pretty much essential to do thank yous! Dont want to seem overly like trying to hard or something.

Ooo thank you cards....lovely ....so glad to hear you writing them thought it was just me these days....

Get him to sign them or put his 'tag'
A few at a time

Did he say thank you when he received them another visit if so then it is very unnecessary to write a card as well. Save the written thank yous for the elderly relatives and people who post him presents.

He definitely needs to sign them, but do it a few at a time (probably unrealistic to expect more from a 5 yo!)

My DC have to grind their way through thank you letters just as I did. It's character building.

He didnt say thank you as he was lost somewhere in soft play frame when most arrived. I said thank you!

After Christmas and her birthday (1 week apart) I get my DD to draw a picture and write thank-you and sign it. I then photocopy it and she distributes them as required. She's done this since she was 4. Much easier for us both!

Have you got a photo of all the kids together at the party? Maybe at food time? Print it out with "thank you for coming to my party" printed on the corner... Then its something maybe worth keeping rather than an "aren't I proper" meaningless card.

If he isn't going to do them, I don't see any point in you doing it. You already said thank you in person - I would leave it at that.

I don't think a parent should pretend that their kid cared enough to put effort into a thankyou card if it's not in fact true.

Thankfully kids here never do them, but the whole class party concept doesn't exist and the kids hide the presents and play hot/ cold to find them and make a big deal of opening them and thanking as they go along - so it actually means something, unlike being forced to churn out letters / signatures resentfully. If my DC hadn't acknowledged the present at all I'd do the photo.

We also did a few a day until they were done. I don't think you ABU but in small parcels it is easier.