The Winterrose Chronicles 12: Reasons to Write Thank You Notes as a Family

By Buffy Winterrose

As we open presents or receive neighbor gifts I try to make a list of who gave us what and later when the present giving is over we write them thank yous. That way we don't leave anyone out and we don't have to hand out neighbor gifts. Which is a good thing because they take FOREVER to make and are expensive and honestly..all our neighbors don't like us well enough to give us loot/booty/bling/gifts so why should I put all that effort out if they aren't going to..AND... neighbor gifts?!?...at CHRISTMAS?!? I'm barely getting *MY* presents bought...(the ones that I'm giving to Edward to give to me)...let alone ones for neighbors! So no, neighbor gifts at Christmas are not done over here.

Last week and tonight it was thank you note time in the house of Winterrose. A joyous occasion where we sit and write out our special feelings for each person who gave us loot over the holidays.

It is a spiritual time.

A time for reflection as we say our thanks to our friends and family.

A time of joy.

A time to realize that Edward really DOES NOT know which direction you write on on a card. He wrote them all upside down and since he was the first one to write in them...(I was busy with our kid and my brother's kid who came over just in time to write with us)....ALL of our thank you notes are upside down.

I pointed that out to him and he said, "How the heck am I supposed to write them right side up?!? It makes you write on the part where it's embossed! It's all bumpy and hard that way, woman!"

I then showed him the amazing thank you note trick I learned when I was but a lass, (K, so I'm lying here..I've never been confused by where to start writing on thank you notes/cards...even the ones with embossing)...I showed him you don't have to start writing at the *tippy top* but that you, (and by you I mean EVERYONE ELSE), start in the middle..at the crease/folding point.

His reply? "Hey! That makes sense! That's cool! Problem solved!!"

I really am a woman of many talents and magic tricks! The mind boggles! (One of these days I'm going to get to the end of these tricks I know and he won't think I'm special and amazing anymore....sigh.)

So as I said..I was writing after he had started. I was reminded of why I love him so much as I read what he wrote to our neighbors and friends. Seriously...he can make things so much fun and instead of moaning about writing thank yous...which I *KNOW* is on his top ten list of things to do- *insert eye roll here*, he dug in and got down to work.

These are examples of the fruits of his labors..and of why I think he's super fly;

"Thank you for the baking parchment. I will enjoy taking advantage of my wife's labors."

"Thank you for the honey bear, we fight over it every night at dinner."

"Buffy is forcing me to write thank you cards. Now she will find out that you gave us jam. Darn. I did not share it with her; which otherwise wouldn't have been noticed...." I do the dishes and I licked the jar clean. The jam was good. I noticed.

"Buffy is making me send Thank-You cards. That means when she reads this she will find out that you gave us fudge. I did not share it. Life is hard..." I did not get any of this fudge. Life IS hard!

"Thank you for giving my wife another reason to go to Kohl's. She, um, really needed that." The gift certificate was for both of us..I guess I failed to explain that bit.

"Thank you for the shopping list. Now my wife can do even MORE shopping.

Yay."

"Thank you for giving me chocolate covered pretzels that I did not have to share with anyone else in my family." We got chocolate pretzels?!?

This one is to a favorite uncle and aunt. Their son, Blake, is in Utah going to school. We hang out with him on occasion...that occasion being us begging for food at my sister's house. ;-)

"1. Do NOT (this bit was underlined several times) believe anything that Blake says about what happens in Utah. Children start lying when they move out. I'm sure he is.

2. Thank you for the pasta and cinnamon. I later learned that they were not intended to be together in the same recipe. Whew!"

"Thank you for remembering me that's ONLY ME SPECIFICALLY by giving ME habanero jam. That is kind of you. I won't be sharing it." It's true, he doesn't share it. If I want some I have to lick a bit off the top so the level goes down in a way he won't notice.

And my favorite, "Thank you for the kick ass treat plate, it was great. Quoted directly from Buffy when I asked her what we got from you."

About Buffy Winterrose:

I married a guy that likes boobs. I've got 'em. Our love should last forever.

I have a daughter who thinks I'm the best mom ever! (She doesn't get out much.)

I'm a room mom, PTA Queen, and sometimes I even go out and earn money just for kicks...and money.

Fame is all I'm looking for..and jeans that make my bum look super fly.