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"Hi Paula: A friend and I were talking about thank-you notes and whether kids ought to write them. I say yes, and she says they don&amp;#039;t have to if the person who gave them the present was right there when they opened it. They&amp;#039;re getting so many gifts this time of year. What&amp;#039;s the etiquette on this? \u2014 trisha Hi Trisha\u2013I&amp;#039;d rather buy your kids presents! When it comes to kids, etiquette is a twofold business: Doing the &amp;quot;right&amp;quot; thing (which is always to be considerate of the other party and make him or her feel good) and teaching how to do the right thing. These are slightly different goals. So for example, some etiquette mavens say that profuse in-person thanks are sufficient. But asking a child to sit down and write a thank-you note hammers home the message in a more concrete way that it&amp;#039;s kind to express gratitude. Muttering (or even shouting) &amp;quot;Thanks, Auntie!&amp;quot; at a family holiday dinner is a bit too in-one-ear-and-out-the-other, especially if they have to be nudged and prompted. If somebody went to the trouble of selecting and wrapping a gift for your child, he or she can take five minutes (or even an hour, which is what it seems to take some of my kids) to put a sentence or two of thanks on paper. Thank-you emails are probably fine, too \u2014 not that kids use email any more these days. (I draw the line at a quickie thank-you text, though I&amp;#039;m struggling to come up with a rationale why!)  Maybe the last present that shows up this season is a box of thank-you notes. Younger kids will love personalized paper. (Design and print custom letterhead right at your computer with all those crazy fonts you never use!) For older kids, I&amp;#039;ve seen some cute make-your-own cards kits by Klutz, and American Girl has a letter-art kit for stylish handmade notes. For a teenager, how about a box of old-fashioned stationery? It&amp;#039;s so retro, it&amp;#039;s hip again! \u2013Paula Spencer, WD &amp;quot;Momfidence&amp;quot; columnist "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a42428/should-kids-write-formal-thank-you-notes-for-holiday-gifts-3648/>