Mom was a major stickler for handwriting thank you notes and letters. It was her thing. It was one of her many gifts and even though I might not have always liked it, I now realize it was a gift she passed on to me. She instilled in me this seemingly lost art. For all my life I remember writing my thank you notes. I remember exchanging letters back and forth between me and my Maw-Maw in Michigan. And to this day I adore getting mail. When I hear our mail truck coming down the road, I still get giddy with anticipation with what just may be in the mail that day. And I want my kids to be the same way.
Ever since they were little I have had them participate in writing their thank you notes. In the beginning they could only scribble or color a little something on the cards. Then they moved into a few random letters. Now the boys can copy “Thank you” and sign their names. And Harper is a full on letter writing machine. She loves it. I want them to find value in the thoughtfulness and time which goes into handwriting anything. A thank you, an encouraging letter or maybe just a little note to keep in touch with a friend.
Harper’s a funny kid. As she has learned to read and write better and better, her desire has grown more and more. A while back she asked me to mail out some notes for her. I gave her all the addresses and she did her thing. Then recently she got to talking about how she wanted a pen pal and how she was a little disappointed nobody had written her back. I asked, “Well did you ask them to write you back?” She had forgotten to include this important piece of information for the recipients. So she decided to give it another try.
This time she wrote one of our lady neighbors. I may have gotten a bit misty eyed when Ms. Sherry sent Harper a card back just a few days later. Harper was thrilled. “Maybe Ms. Sherry can be my pen pal?” Then just a few days later the kids received a fun note from their friend Hudson N. It hit Harper like a lighting bolt…”Maybe Hudson N can be my pen pal?” And now she’s committed.
She was off from school today for parent teacher conferences, but the boys still had MDO, so we got some good time together. And we went stationary shopping. She had already written Hudson N a letter, but decided to re-write it on her new stationary. And now her first official official pen pal letter is ready to be mailed. Seriously, what kid doesn’t love getting mail. And it makes my heart super happy to see her enjoying and valuing something her Grammy so loved and valued as well.
I know this would have made Mom’s day. I love telling Harper about all the ways she reminds me of her Grammy. And this is definitely one of them. She would be so proud!
Happy Tuesday!
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