Poor Michelle didn't get a whole lot done because she had to take Max to get a birthday present for a friend, then wrap the present, then take him to the party, etc. Interruptions like that make for choppy bursts of productivity, then add in a tired and whiny Eva and Michelle was pretty much doomed to have a disappointing day. I, on the other hand, got tons done. I made many photo cards and then wrote about 10 of them. Whitney was hanging around and ended up writing 2 cards as well (one a much needed thank you note that's about 2 months overdue...but never too late).
The kids and I left around 4:00 so that I could drop them off at home and head up the street to a park to meet Jenn's family for a fall photo shoot. It was perfect weather photo-wise yesterday so the park was full of people taking family photos. Fortunately the place is big enough that we didn't have to overlap each other too much. After the photo shoot (2+ hours!) I wanted to take a few self-portraits on my digital camera with Jenn. Her kids then wanted to take some of us, so we ended up having an amusing photo shoot that resulted in many pictures of me and Jenn. Her daughter Emily, who had been very challenging during the photo shoot, suddenly felt like being in pictures and joined us for a few. Crazy girl.
Later that night I was helping Whitney finish her homework and suggested to Landon that he needed to write thank you notes (which I had finally made) for his birthday gifts (back in August). I was expecting to meet some resistance to this and even said, "Maybe you could write one a day or something." He totally surprised me by getting into it and wanting to get them done. He wrote 16 thank you notes! I was so impressed. The kids ended up staying up 45 minutes past their bedtime, but all of Landon's birthday thank you notes are finished. I'm so pleased.
So after such a day of correspondence and thank you note writing I need to buy stamps! I had quite a plentiful supply, but after yesterday I'm down to like 2 and that just won't do.
**Did you write thank you notes as a kid?
Do you agree that's it's never
too late to send a thank you?
Do your kids cooperate during photos?**
Do you agree that's it's never
too late to send a thank you?
Do your kids cooperate during photos?**
34 comments:
My kids do not cooperate during photo shoots! Darn it~ they do respond to DON'T SMILE I MEAN IT.
We probably shouldn't encourage that behavior, but you know desperate times. This is such a good time of year for a photo shoot!
I think it is definately never too late for a thank you! I didn't send very many thank you's after getting married (immature for sure) and I wish I could go back and do it even now! I just don't know who would get a note & if they are even alive- I'm an old married woman of 40 now.
so- to make up for it if I can- I have been teaching my own kids to send thank you's and it is really paying off. Now that some are getting older they have great letter writing skills- a bonus I didn't think of!
have a great day Jill!~
patsy
1st to post- wow
I like that you encouraged Landon to write thankyou notes. I need to be better at this with my own children. I beleive this is something not many people do any more. I remember my mother having me write thank you notes after a birthday or christmas. When we got married I picked out some really nice Thank you cards. I notice that not many brides do this any more either.
Did I write thank-you notes as a kid? No, but I help my children to write them. Sometimes I forget, but I try to stay on top of it.
So I think it is ever too late to send a thank-you? No, never too late, but sometimes that thank-you note has to start out as an apology!
We just took our Christmas photos and K ran around crazy the whole time. He can stand still at a park. I think it is quite impossible for him.
I love my cards, thank you!
Griffin is starting to not cooperate for photo shoots because he won't wear the "baby" clothes I pick out. I think I just got my last photo ever of him in a one piece outfit with saddle oxfords on!
Luci is great about writing thank you notes, she will do it without being reminded. (Griffin is still trying to write his name.) I ordered them some cute Christmas thank you's from Doodlebugs Paper where you just have them fill in the blanks.
My paprents always made us write thank you notes growing up.
Oh Jill! I think that it is so important for kids to know that they should write thank you notes! This is a fantastic thing! That is so amazing to have anyone write 16 in one sitting! Why were you guys off from school again - didn't you just have fall break last week? I fear that I might have missed our fall photo opt as the rain has arrived and is scheduled to stay for another 9 days! Fun that you were able to go and take family portraits for a friend!
totally agree that it is never to late to write a thank you note.
i dread photo shoots usually b/c something always seems to go wrong-- oh and b/c we have gone to picture people studios in the past. no more however and i want to find a real photographer to do a shoot soon.
as for writing notes, i was always faithful as a child and really up until the kids! (eek!) i have always adored stationery so that helps. my girls love stationery too and are very good about their thank you notes. i think cool stationery helps!
i am a big "giver" of stationery too. my neices and nephew, etc...
Wonderful good mail you sent out!
I always wrote thank you's as a kid. I know my mom encouraged it, but I really took to it. It's never to late to send a thank you! I encourage my kids to write them, but they haven't decided to do it on their own yet - without the prompting.
I find it very difficult to get good photos of my kids, whether their not cooperating or trying too hard to cooperate. (Maybe the problem is more me than them though.)
Love the SPT! Glad you got to have creative friday on MOnday. Does that mean you'll have it twice this week?
That is great how much you got done, and the thank you notes! Wow! Impressive that you got Landon to do that many at once!
Never too late for a thank you note. And I think the occassion can help dictate that. I still have several to mail out for something that happened in May but sometimes it is hard to find the right words. Thank you cards are always great to give...and get!
I still have my thank you cards (accidentally packed!) from last December- hopeless. And Emily still hasn't finished hers from June! It was reassuring to read that you think it is never too late!
Thanks for the photo shoot- I'm feeling pretty relaxed about it even with Emily being extremely difficult. I'll take what I can get and try to remember to laugh at the strong personalities my kids have been given! (Oh dear- does my eye really look that bad?!!)
Photo shoots, well, that's a gamble. You never know.
Since I am such a terrible procrastinator, I of course, believe it's never too late for a thank you note--better than not at all for sure. If I didn't believe that I would just curl up in a ball of crushing guilt. I still feel guilty when I'm late, but it's a more bearable guilt.
Thankfully, A. likes to "write" thank-you notes and is a huge good mail fan!
Like Lisa, I'm afraid we have missed the window for any fall outdoor photo shoots. The rain arrived a month early this year, and it has really put a kink in any leafy plans.
I agree -- never too late for a thank you note. I got one from a wedding recently that was a year after the fact. They were cute about it and said something like, "this is our favorite pan, and we know because we've used it for a year." It cracked me up!
No -- it is never too late to send a thank-you note! I have sent many many late ones myself, because I firmly believe that. Can't believe Landon wrote 16 in one sitting! I wish I could get Lucas to catch that bug.
Between you and the kids, you were really on a correpondence roll! I may not have gotten that much done yesterday, but I sure was glad you were here (even though you were laughing through my ordeal). :)
Love the picture of you and Jenn!
Photo shoots are so short lived for our family. But lucky for me if I tell them it will only take 15 minutes they tend to do pretty well.
My mom hounded me as a kid to write thank you notes, I think that is why I have always been pretty faithful in writing them. I think it's great to encourage them at such a young age.
Of COURSE my kids do not cooperate during photos! Do any kids? Max (age 8) always makes some goofy, weirdie face and the girls just out-&-out whine. Torture. I've decided to just go for candids. :)
I am of the opinion that it's never, ever too late for a thank you. Of course good manners dictate a somewhat prompt note, but real life does not always fall in line with the dictates of good manners. Sometimes, receiving a long overdue thank you is a surprise and a pleasure, don't you think?
Your pen & ink correspondence is inspiring!
oh wow that is productivity. no I don't think it is never to late to write, or post...I guess being a couple of months late is tough, but for nothing is the saying...better late than never right?
It is amazing how quickly postage gets used up. I think it's great Landon is doing Thank yous. It's important that our little ones recognize the importance of this, I only wish I were better and reminding my girls. Here's my rdv to do better.
Must be fun doing a photo shoot with such a good friend. Love the sp
I agree it's never to late to send thank you notes.
I wasn't too good at doing it as a kid but I feel like I'm getting better.
I do remember writing Thank-you notes as a kid and I agree that it's never too late to write a thank-you (because mine are usually late), don't have kids but the dogs are hard to get involved in a photo shoot:)
I usually make my kids write thank yous. Sometimes life gangs up on me and I don't follow through.
We had a mini photo shoot this morning and there was a bit too much personality!
The picture of you and Jenn is cute.
I have so many thank yous from this summer and my birthday. I'm glad you and most others have said it's never too late to send them. My feeling exactly and since I'm behind it makes me feel good that I'm not alone in my thinking.
My kids most definitely do not cooperate for a photo shoot. Silly faces and crying from them is usually how it ends up! Oh and a ticked off mom!
Your mailing spree makes me jealous... I have not been able to buckle down and do (almost anything) with the impending move!
I love that Landon happily wrote all of his thank you notes. Not surprising from your child, I might add. I've never been good at Thank You's. You, my dear, are an inspiration!
I think I'm the one who evented late thank yous and belated birthdays. I've never been good at being on time with these types of thins. I totally feel that it's never too late. Although, I think it would be too late to send my thank you cards off from my wedding. Didn't quite get around to sending all of them - bad eh? Goodmail has totally helped me get better though! Cute post JilL!
**Did you write thank you notes as a kid? not so much
Do you agree that's it's never
too late to send a thank you? TOTALLY! ask my friends!!
Do your kids cooperate during photos?**pretty much-they are drilled..although anna has her "pose" that i can never see her face!
I thought there might be mouse/maggot video in this post - too disturbing???
You have modeled some good thank you note practises for your kids.
so i was so happy to see that you send late thank yous. i am the queen of that. :)
my fam is doing our photo shoot tomorrow- too bad you don't live in washington!!! i am really hoping it doesn't rain b/c we're doing an outdoor shoot and i wanted nice fall weather...not gray rainy frizzy and flat hair! :)
Oh man, you reminded me that i have to do thank yous for Austin's pseudo birthday party. One more thing to add to the list.
I love Landon's tshirt! Did you get that in Nam? Ha.
My mom always made us sit down and write thank you notes after Christmas and birthdays and such. I am so grateful to her now for this, it's one of the reasons that I enjoy good mail so much. I love taking it a step further to write Just Because notes and thank yous for lots of things, not just gifts. And one more thing, I shoot pictures a lot, and one thing that works is to get your camera ready and say, "everybody say diarrhea!" or "ladies underware!" People of all ages will laugh and you'll get great shots!
I was a thank you note writer and journaler as a kid. No prompting needed. I just enjoy writing. I have a few I need to get to from a few weeks ago, but usually don't let too much time go by. I'm much more of a slacker though now that I have kids.
We don't have much in the way of family photos where we're all looking. It's tough getting kids to look at the camera and actually smile at the same time.
Did you write thank you notes as a kid? absolutely! and to think i hated every minute of it!!
Do you agree that's it's never
too late to send a thank you? i totally agree!
Do your kids cooperate during photos? not lately!
Surprise, I'm commenting! I just think it's wonderful the good training you are giving the kids with the thank you notes thing. I love that they are homemade as well and wish I knew how to make some. We received Landon's and loved it very much. So original.
Thanks.
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