Thank you notes

I came up with a simple and yet effective idea I want to remember: no playing with gifts until the thank you note has been written.

Yes, it is cruel, but we clearly needed a new system since we only made it halfway through our Christmas thank yous before I gave up (in March).  And given that most of our family and friends live far away, Nicholas rarely can say thank you for presents in person when they are given and so needs to send notes.

Using this system Nicholas finished all the thank yous for the presents he got at his party in 5 days:

From 2013 May

I didn't take pictures of the insides, but he wrote the friend's name and his own name and dictated the rest.  Asking him to write any more than that would have spelled the end of the project.  Writing is definitely not an activity he enjoys, but given that he can write most letters at almost 4, I figure there is no need to push too hard.