Time For Thank You Cards

Christmas time has come and gone again. For many of us, that means presents. Presents often mean a need for thank you cards.

If you did not open the present in front of the giver, you need to send them a thank you card. Even if you did open it in front of them--and said thank  you--you may want to send a thank you card or email anyways. Thank you cards are seldom a bad choice so when in doubt, go ahead and send one.

Some simple rules for thank you cards:

Whenever you open a present outside the presence of the giver, send a thank you card.

Send the thank you card within two weeks for most occasions. If it is for a wedding or baby shower, you can stretch that out to a month or two as people understand that you probably have a lot of them to do. However, anything else, do it as quickly as possible.  For one thing, this eliminates the wait for the giver. For another, it makes it much less likely that you will forget to do it.

Always put something good about the gift or giver at the beginning of the thank you card.  For example, "It was wonderful of you to take the time to send a present." or "I love the colors of the blanket you sent."

Always finish with the words, "Thank you"

If the gift was given to a small child, feel free to include them in the process. They can draw a picture or write a little message. Chances are whoever cared enough to send them a present would love to get a personal message from them.  It also helps to teach your children so that some day, they too will know to send a thank you card.