Thank you notes

are rare these days. If you get thanked it is more likely to be by phone or a message on social media. It may even be fair to say that being thanked is no longer seen as essential as it once was.

This morning though was different. The person who comes to help me with the heavy cleaning - i.e. the floors and the places I cannot reach - brought two thank you notes with her. They were from her grandchildren. 

I had made "activity bags" for them for Christmas. I did it because I wanted to thank P...  for her efforts during the year. Yes, I pay her something but, while it is what she asks, it is not a lot. I also genuinely appreciate the fact that she is willing to wash floors. The floors in this house don't get particularly dirty but I much prefer knowing that they are properly clean. So, I wanted to show my appreciation.

I also knew that she would be minding her grandchildren over the time she was away. I know, from conversation with her, that they like to make things. They are eight and six. 

I put together something very much like I would make for the youngest members of the clan and I passed it over to her just before Christmas.

This morning I saw her for the first time since then and the first thing she did was pass me two thank you notes. "They did those themselves. It was their idea too."

I can believe that. I have met them. They are nice children. Like any other children they need to be prompted to thank people at times but they often do it without being prompted. 

And so the six year old had folded a piece of paper and drawn me an aquarium with fish. The fish are being watched by a cat at the bottom and a bird at the top. There is a "thank you" at the top. He copied it after asking his grandmother to write it so he could do it. It is neat and detailed.

The eight year old had done a "proper card". There is a message inside which her grandmother tells me she wrote without any help. It is several well constructed sentences long. There are no spelling errors. The picture of a cat is exquisitely well done, full of character. 

It must have taken both children quite some time to do these things. Their grandmother showed me photographs she has taken of the other things they have done and made with what I provided. They have apparently been busily occupied for hours. 

The photographs would have been enough but the cards have given me a much needed boost right now.  They might seem like a little thing but I appreciate them. I appreciate the card sent to me from a friend in the UK saying how much she has appreciated our contact this past year and a note from another, an email from another inquiring after the Senior Cat. I know too many adults who don't bother to acknowledge what is given to them. It would be good to reinstate the idea of thanking each other. I will try to remember it - and yes, I really do thank you all.