Received a pre-printed generic thank you card

[Anonymous]

my trouble is finding the addresses to send to. i write the notes but then they just sit there....unmailed for weeks. that is what's hard when your super busy as a new mom, getting it all organized and together in the mail. At least that was my problem anyway. I know I just needed to have some sort of spreadsheet...
i don't think generic thank you cards are the way to go. Tacky!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:give the woman a rest.

she just had a baby and she has to hand write you a thank you card and go after old papers to find the correct spelling for your daughter's name??????

wtf??????????

I bet you would be here complaining if the thank you note was written by hand with the wrong spelling.

gosh!

Nope, wouldn't complain about that at all. She can't remember my daughters name? I just sent her kid a gift!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oh, and your c-section scar / stitches don't lay you out for months on end, either

Thank you! I'm so sick of hearing about all the "exhaustion" after a newborn. Unless your baby has some serious problems, I don't want to hear it. This is not to say that I give a crap about whether or not I receive a thank you note. If I get a verbal thank you (just so I know the gift has been received), that's good enough for me.

Thank you! My girlfriend with a newborn is so bored out of her mind that she asks me to come over and hang out with her on her lunch break. Her baby sleeps all of the time. True, it's her first, but that's when you get the deluge of presents anyway.

And tell me, directed at the lady who said she would have had to write 200 thank you notes. In order to get this many gifts, if that is not an exaggeration, I have to assume you had some kind of shower. If you had a shower and didn't write thank you notes, guarantee you've got one embarrassed mom. If you had any manners you'd be embarrassed yourself. Wow. I'm sorry, but to me writing thank you notes has NOTHING to do with pleasing some archaic notion of etiquette and has EVERYTHING to do with being a considerate person and thanking someone else for their kindness and thoughtfulness.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, previous poster here. I meant to say "my" lunch break. Not hers. And I can also say that my newborn slept for lots of hours a day. I was still pretty busy because I had family in town, but my thank yous went out promptly. Not due to manners, but due to caring about people who took the time to send us a present.

[Anonymous]

I was getting married and no one was paying attention to the list of shit I had picked out...

They were sending me china and things I had not registered for, not even close.

I was pitching a real fit...my mother shamed into realizing that any gift is a gift wothy of thanks and that I was a bitch to be anything other than that. You write a note of thanks. No matter what. No matter the small house or the usefulness or anything.

Pure graciousness.

[Anonymous]

"Every newborn I have ever met sleeps for extraordinary amounts of time every single day. some may cry a lot, but they also sleep for like, what, 20 hour a day, day after day, for weeks. "

Speak for yourself, sister. My kid slept in 30 min. increments EXACTLY to the second for 4 mos. Also, ever meet a family who has a colicky baby? Your observation simply is not universal. And, you don't make allowances for the fact that some women take longer to heal and are dealing with baby blues or depression. I did not sleep or eat for WEEKS (except enough to exist) after my baby was born. I was completely overwhelmed and had no help at all.

I'm all in favor of some reasonable rules of etiquette. But, folks who've just had baby need to be cut some slack. ANd, calling a TY note of any type tacky is just bitchy. What b/c they are not up to your standards? GMAB.

[Anonymous]

And for those asking about DH's . . . mine was overwhelmed too and dealing we an overwhelmed wife. He was great. But, TY notes were not high on our list. They did get done but waaaay late. I'm sure peopel were pissed off. At that point, however, I didn't care. Sorry if that offends some delicate personalities.
Personally, I think this is just an excuse for some people to find something to complain about.

[Anonymous]

WHATEVER. If you have a tough kid, you write a note that says "thanks for ________. LOVE, ___________"

EVERYONE CAN DO THAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oh, and your c-section scar / stitches don't lay you out for months on end, either

Thank you! I'm so sick of hearing about all the "exhaustion" after a newborn. Unless your baby has some serious problems, I don't want to hear it. This is not to say that I give a crap about whether or not I receive a thank you note. If I get a verbal thank you (just so I know the gift has been received), that's good enough for me.

Thank you! My girlfriend with a newborn is so bored out of her mind that she asks me to come over and hang out with her on her lunch break. Her baby sleeps all of the time. True, it's her first, but that's when you get the deluge of presents anyway.

And tell me, directed at the lady who said she would have had to write 200 thank you notes. In order to get this many gifts, if that is not an exaggeration, I have to assume you had some kind of shower. If you had a shower and didn't write thank you notes, guarantee you've got one embarrassed mom. If you had any manners you'd be embarrassed yourself. Wow. I'm sorry, but to me writing thank you notes has NOTHING to do with pleasing some archaic notion of etiquette and has EVERYTHING to do with being a considerate person and thanking someone else for their kindness and thoughtfulness.

I'm that poster. I did write notes for the shower gifts. I received gifts from many business associates at an some point it got overwhelming. Especially when the XYZ department (10 people) all go together on one gift. Ten thank you notes right there.

[Anonymous]

NO ONE IS SO PRESSED IN THIS COUNTRY THAT THEY CANNOT WRITE A NOTE. NO ONE.

[Anonymous]

I can't decide who is ruder -- the person who sent the preprinted TY note or the people on this forum. OP, it is not an acceptable practice. I do send TY notes or express thanks at least in some form (call, e-mail, verbal, etc) for a gift and expect the same in return -- if for no other reason than to know that they received it. It is quicker, in my opinion, to write a quick note than to make a call when you are home with a newborn. And FWIW, my DH helped with TY notes to his family and friends for our wedding, wedding shower, baby shower, baby's birth, etc. -- ladies, raise your expectations!

[Anonymous]

Man, there was a point after my son was first born where I absolutely dreaded a knock on my door because I knew it was UPS and another baby present and another thank you note that I had to write. My baby was fussy and yes, he napped but in the time he slept, my choices were whether to shower, eat, sleep, or do thank you notes and you can guess what always came last.

BUT, I wrote a note for every damned gift by hand and that is the least that I can do when someone took the time (and money) to send a gift to my child. New moms absolutely should get slack on the length of time it takes to write a note but they must, must write a note (or have Dad write a note - I did get DH to do some but it was like pulling teeth, sigh).

A preprinted generic note is just awful, if you ask me. In theory, a written acknowledgment that the gift is received is better than nothing but I'd probably notice and remember the (tacky) generic note more than I'd notice the absence of a note alltogether.

[Anonymous]

PP, hear hear.

And that is what it is about. Recognizing that yes, it would be easier to go to bed, but is RIGHT to write the note.

Well done and well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oh, and your c-section scar / stitches don't lay you out for months on end, either

Thank you! I'm so sick of hearing about all the "exhaustion" after a newborn. Unless your baby has some serious problems, I don't want to hear it. This is not to say that I give a crap about whether or not I receive a thank you note. If I get a verbal thank you (just so I know the gift has been received), that's good enough for me.

Thank you! My girlfriend with a newborn is so bored out of her mind that she asks me to come over and hang out with her on her lunch break. Her baby sleeps all of the time. True, it's her first, but that's when you get the deluge of presents anyway.

And tell me, directed at the lady who said she would have had to write 200 thank you notes. In order to get this many gifts, if that is not an exaggeration, I have to assume you had some kind of shower. If you had a shower and didn't write thank you notes, guarantee you've got one embarrassed mom. If you had any manners you'd be embarrassed yourself. Wow. I'm sorry, but to me writing thank you notes has NOTHING to do with pleasing some archaic notion of etiquette and has EVERYTHING to do with being a considerate person and thanking someone else for their kindness and thoughtfulness.

I'm that poster. I did write notes for the shower gifts. I received gifts from many business associates at an some point it got overwhelming. Especially when the XYZ department (10 people) all go together on one gift. Ten thank you notes right there.

When 10 people from a department go in on a gift together, it is perfectly appropriate to write one thank you note to the group and send it to their office (addressing it to the highest ranking person or person who normally takes the lead on organizing things like the gifts). Otherwise, write the notes!

[Anonymous]

Rather, I should say you address it to all of them (but hte address on the outside is the "leader" so to speak). When addressing a group thank you.