I disagree with the poster who said if the kids don't write thank-you notes, it's the fault of the parents. I taught my kids to write thank you notes. When they hit about age 10 - 12, they both quit, despite my warnings of dire consequences. I informed the grandparents that I would totally understand if they stopped sending gifts, and would be more than happy to seize the opportunity as a teaching moment. However, both sets of grandparents said it was ok, they understood, the kids are busy, they still wanted to give gifts to the kids, blah blah blah. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed. Fortunately, my oldest is now 18 and will write wonderful thank-you emails full of news and chitchat. Now I just have to work on my youngest.