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.

If you give a thank you card, then the kid has to be involved, writing name or whatever, but you sound completely bonkers for sending thank you cards to kids who you presumably already thanked, and had hosted them at a party?

Being thankful is something to teach children, your mum sending thank you cards is not that, in fact it's almost the opposite, a pretence of thanks that is more about the look than the genuine emotion.

I think thank you cards for presents received at a party are utterly ridiculous and mainly a ploy to make childhood seem miserable so kids will want to grow up and get out.

My 5 year old would only do it a few at a time,if there were 30 I'd spread it over a few days.
Personally if he has said thank you in person I would leave it at that.We just send thank you cards to friends & relatives far away who have posted things.
Recently party invites have been sent by text or email,with thank yous sent the same way with a blanket message and sometimes a party photo .I would be happy with that from a host and have done it myself when have hosted.

:o BoomBoom

I got DS to write a generic thank you message which I then scanned and printed on to 30 thank you cards. Was much easier to have him make a good effort once rather than just write his name 30 times. Something like:

Dear

Thank you for coming to my party and for the present.

[space for name of present]

love from DS

A couple of years ago I delegated thank you cards to my husband. I'd had enough I never did it as a child (we just said thank you on the day or by phone for relatives). I haven't checked whether he's ever done them but I suspect not.

second the scan and print idea

I did the same as Mrs Wombat. Dd drew a little picture, wrote thank you and I gave them out.

IME, you don't need to do thank you cards for school friends.

He should be involved in the thank you cards going to Grandparents - maybe other close relatives, but presumably that would only be about 4 or 5, which isn't unreasonable to expect him to do.

I bribed DD (4) with chocolate. I think she did about 10 and her name is pretty short. Her name was pretty illegible on at least some if them.

I don't really like generic thank you messages. I've had them from adults and they are really lazy. But I would probably struggle with 30. What do you do with 30 presents.

I could be in the minority here but I don't see the point in them if they are not signed by him. If they're not then mayn't you just thank people verbally or sign your name?

I remember doing all mine at 5yo, and not just signing them but I was quite good at writing. However, I think the lesson it taught me was valuable. Thanking people and showing your appreciation isn't always a fun task but it is polite and worth it and also makes you consider their kindness in giving a present and taking time to think of one/buy one.

Is it perhaps better to send less cards and have him sign, maybe only to family and close friends who picked out thoughtful presents rather than everyone? Just a thought that school friends often have parents who buy a generic sort of present, though they still deserve a thank you they might not cherish a card whereas a family member or close friend who spent ages choosing and put lots of effort in might love a card back with a comment and signature from him.

Do it over the course of a week. I think thank you cards are important.

Most but not all families do thank you cards at DS school so far. Varying degrees of parent/child input.

DS did his thankyou cards completely, but he is a May birthday so had most of a year of school under his belt by then. Christmas cards he managed about 15x his name, over a few sittings, and they were sloooooow. If his birthday had been in September (and he hadn't taken off with writing more before school) then signing cards would have been too much for him.

Why don't you try a few and see how he gets on? I wouldn't force the issue, not a good idea to make writing into a battle at this early stage.

Some parents - aka me - will be putting it straight in the recycling so don't overthink it.

I/DD got thanked at the handover of the present at the party and got a thank yous were exchanged both ways at the party bag/slice of cake goodbye stage, so for me that is more than enough.

I fully appreciate I am a MN outcast on this subject.

I/DD got thanked at the handover of the present at the party and got a thank yous were exchanged both ways at the party bag/slice of cake goodbye stage, so for me that is more than enough.

Aaargh Shakes, bloody proof read before posting!

I like the photo of party attendees quite a lot, whereas generic multipack signed by mum cards, not so much; I'd keep a photo on display (perhaps on the fridge), generic card would go straight in the bin to reduce clutter.

Great practice to print his name. 5 cards a day they will be done in less than a week. There is no point to you doing them, it is supposed to be from him.

What Shakes said (twice)

Thank yous are only important if they aren't/weren't able to thank in person.

eg a child couldn't come to the party because they were poorly, but still sent a gift, or great aunty Joan sent a gift from Autralia.