Article: Teaching kids to write notes can be a thankless task

The thank-you note.

We all write them, acknowledging everything from useful gifts to presents we returned the day after Christmas. Manners columnists promote them, and dozens of books offer help at crafting the perfect thank you card. Unfortunately, no one has written a book for parents advising them on how to make writing thank-you notes a painless process.

"Getting my kids to write thank-you notes in a timely manner is impossible," says Courtney Haller, the mother of three boys, ages 6, 8 and 11.

When they were younger, Ms. Haller would write the notes herself, then have her boys draw a picture or print their names, making them a part of the process. Ms. Haller says she wrongly assumed ...