What's in a Note {Ideas and Inspiration}

 What's in a note? Why even continue to use fancy stationery (or even just a simple plain piece of paper & a pen)? Well a new article has shown that people who have been using electronic mail and social media sites for communication are starting to fall back to the old ways and are choosing beautiful stationery and fountain pens to start writing and conversing with their closest friends. And this article got me thinking...

There is still something about getting a letter or card in the mail. It seriously makes me giddy with delight when I put the pile of junk mail and bills (only a few since we're mostly paperless to "go green") and see a familiar return address. I just know it's a card or a letter from a loved one. And I'm not the only one who gets excited, my 2 year old son gets excited as well!

Since he just turned 2 he received a lot of cards in the mail from various family members and friends. He would ask me to open the envelope as soon as he saw the letter in his name (he recognizes most E's). You should have seen his eyes and how wide they got while he examined and looked at the cards front, center and back. He was thrilled! And I don't want that thrill to get lost with the internet communication of today. I want to keep that excitement alive.

So in order to do this I've started talking to friends who also have similar aged children and we've decided to start matching the kids up with pen pals. I had a deaf pen pal when I was in the 3rd grade and receiving letters from her was so awesome. We both had beautiful stationery sets that we purchased especially for writing back and fourth and when I wrote on that paper I felt wonderful. So once my little boy is matched up we are going to design him some special stationery to "write" on as well. Sure it'll just be pictures at first but I hope that it will grow into letters and helping him learn penmanship. Too many children today rely on computer fonts and spell check. I don't want this to become a crutch for my child as well.

And since I'm asking my child to write on stationery more I am going to do so myself. And not just the standard thank yous (although these would be a perfect way to start! Hand-written thank yous are still considered superior to e-mail), I will start to write to those friends who I can't find time to email or call just to say hi. Because I know how wonderful it is to see that familiar return address in the mail... Perhaps you might like to personalize some cards or stationery to do the same. Let us know how it turns out!!