This blog post is sponsored by the Paper and Packaging- How Life Unfolds ® Campaign.
Bean's birthday was August 9th. And anyone within a 60 mile radius of her at any given time knew it. She was thrilled to be turning 5 and starting kindergarten and becoming a "big girl." She cares much more about the celebratory activities than actual gifts, so her wish list was short and sweet: a unicorn piñata and a Barbie doll. Now that I can do. You can find Barbies just about anywhere and apparently, unicorns are a thing now. #whoknew
About a week before the BIG day, packages started rolling in. Bean is incredibly fortunate to have a village of beautiful people who swoon over her and everything she does and are chomping at the bit to buy her all sorts of treats and surprises that end up occupying the majority of the square footage of our house. The gifts she received far exceeded what she had asked for and when the morning of her special day came, her eyes lit up with not only wonder, but gratitude as well. She gave mama and daddy tons of thank you hugs and kisses and danced her entire way through her morning routine and birthday pancakes tradition at IHOP.
As we pull into the carpool line at school, Bean says, "Mama, wasn't it so nice for _____________ to give me presents for my special day? We have to send them a thank you card in the mail!" And then she hopped out of the car and skipped happily into the school building.
My mama heart was (and still is) so full of wonder, admiration, and pride. My 5 -year- old daughter understands and appreciates the power of a heartfelt handwritten note. She didn't ask to send a thank you text, email, or video (and she is very familiar with all three). She knew exactly what she wanted to do to express her gratitude. Therefore, I had to get moving on this personalized stationery ASAP. #eek
No need to worry though- finding thank you notes to fit your child's birthday party theme is a piece of cake! (Hahahahaha, y'all I literally laughed out loud at that cake pun... You can take the baker out of the kitchen, but...) Anyhow, all you need is a computer, a good internet connection, and a color printer. Search "free printable birthday thank you notes" et voila!! Take your pick of literally thousands of stationery templates that you can customize and make your own. It's simple, FREE, and the recipients will love them! Print them out on some quality cardstock, stick them in cute envelopes, and you're all set! #sponsored #poweredbypaper
Since her second birthday, I've had Bean "help" me write thank you cards for her birthday gifts. She would dictate to me what she wanted to say, and I would transcribe an abbreviated version onto the cards, since she can be a bit long-winded. #shegetitfromhermama By the time her 4th and 5th birthdays came, she could write the alphabet, so she'd tell me what she wanted to write and I would help her spell the words correctly. Then she'd happily lick the envelope seals, #yuck, and drop them in the mailbox at the post office.
I knew the entire process quite well. My mama was a dedicated thank you note writer and she taught her children to follow suit. It's such a small thing, but it brings so much joy. We teach Bean to choose gratitude because someone else chose to give of themselves and share something special with her. Their gift was a choice, not an obligation. And now that Bean is in kindergarten and learning to write in cursive, you can't tell her nothin'- she thinks she's a professional card writer! So if you happen to get something in the mail that has a whole bunch of illegible squiggly lines on it, just know it was written with all the love and excitement in Bean's 5- year -old heart (which is a WHOLE LOT)!
Love Y'all and I'm so grateful for each of you,
Faith
This blog post is sponsored by the Paper and Packaging- How Life Unfolds ® Campaign.