We were a bit late in getting our Christmas Thank You cards out, but we made it with in a month of Christmas, so it's within the socially acceptable guidelines, right? If not, I've got plenty of excuses! :)
Carli and I decided that we would make "feet" penguins. I wasn't sure she would want to b/c it involved putting paint on her feet. She didn't mind at all and actually had a blast doing it! Ava, who I thought would have a blast doing paint on her feet, totally freaked out on me. Melt down, major melt down that didn't stop until all the paint was washed off. So, we had to do plan B - which was more time consuming and maybe not as cute...but it's the thought, right?
We traced the girls feet, and cut out the outline and went from there. I printed "Thank You" on the front of the card and Naggy helped in encouraging the girls to color them all...all 18 of them. Which they accomplished with no melt downs much to my relief! Ava even colored a few!
While they colored I cut and assembled the penguins. Then Carli came and did a really good job in adding their eyes and beaks...
And then Ava came and added her two sense of artistic interpretation to a few cards...
Ava actually did a pretty good job for a 20 month old! She came in with a grey marker and attempted to add eyes just like Carli did! She'd color away, and push the card away when she was done and say "Nother one?" Listen close...
Here are some of our finished cards...
Some people have asked me why I bother, and stress about getting Thank You cards out...so let me get on my soap box for a second because one day I hope my children will come back and read this and know, it wasn't just one of those silly things Mom made them do!
No one has to do anything for you. And if you have earned it, you still should be thanking the good Lord above for the blessing of receiving it! Yes, it is true, many folks do give out of love and the desire to give and expect nothing in return. And for those folks, we are very thankful! So, if someone goes out of their way, spend their time, money, effort and much thought and care on doing something for us - why would we not take our time and effort to let them know we appreciate not only what they gave or did for us, but that we are thankful for the blessing they are to us? And so, one day Carli and Ava, when you are a teenager and you are complaining about your Momma making you write thank you notes before you can go off and do what you want...take a minute to stop and think about the love and thought that that person put into giving you something, because they thought you deserved it. They sure do deserve to be acknowledged and thanked for it.
By the way, I have to take a minute to thank my Mom for instilling that in me. I remember thank you notes. I remember trying to figure out how to not write them. And I remember my Mom explaining why we needed to write them. And let me tell you...I sure appreciate that lesson she taught me!
**This was in no way directed at anyone...please don't take offense. Just like we teach our children to pray at meal time, say thank you, your welcome, etc...this is just a value I want my children to learn. Nothing more.**
Okay...off soap box now...
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