January 2014

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NEWS
119 January14
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
I received a couple of Christmas gifts that did not quite hit
the mark. Is it okay to return a gift?
First, no matter what the gift, you should write a note of thanks to
the giver for their thoughtfulness. After that, in general, it’s fine to
return a bought gift, but not anything handmade or personal. If
the gift includes a receipt, it’s a tacit invitation to exchange it for
something more to your taste. If the package clearly indicates
where the gift was purchased you could also try to exchange it.
But it’s inappropriate to ask for information in order to return the
gift to the store.
My kids groan at the idea of having to send handwritten
thank-you notes for Christmas gifts. Is it okay to let them
send thank-you emails instead?
I get this question all the time. I will start by saying that sending
a note of gratitude any way you can is most important. However,
a handwritten note is the ideal option. Here is how I explain it
to my kids. The person who purchased your gift went through
considerable time and effort to select, wrap, and get the gift to
you. Their time and thoughtfulness is deserving of a handwritten
note of thanks. I also remind them of how much they enjoy
receiving notes in the mail. Emails are generally read and deleted
where notes are often read and kept. Wouldn’t your children want
to be remembered as grateful? Or in the wise words of my six-
year-old, “If you write a thank-you note, you get more presents.”
Oh, Behave!
Minding your Ps and Qs… even when others don’t.
Send your questions on matters of etiquette
to . We’ll pass them
to Kristen Graff, the founder of Manners in
Mind, a company providing modern-day
advice on social, cultural and corporate
etiquette. To sign up for an etiquette class
or for more information, call 8157 3365 or
visi
LET’S PLAY TOGETHER
To help encourage friendships and child bonding
through play, LEGO Friends, a product range
aimed at girls aged five to twelve, is introducing a
brand new friendship campaign, which will air as a
pair of films on its YouTube channel, youtube.com/
lego. The films show five friends around a table,
sharing tips, thoughts and opinions while playing
with the range. We also like the limited-edition
LEGO Friends Friendship Diary, which encourages
children to write down their thoughts. It contains
an assortment of games and lots of fun stickers to
keep their hands busy. To get your own hands on
one, spend at least $60 on LEGO Friends products
in one go, and submit a photo of the receipt
together with your contact details by 31 January to
.
CHILD OF THE WEEK
Aussie expat and mother of four Rachael Cox
has created a new app aimed at helping family
households run more smoothly
and preventing arguments over
those little things, like whose
turn it is to choose a movie, or
to sit in the front seat of the
car. The Child of the Week
app encourages children to
work at chores and benefit
from perks, giving them a
sense of responsibility
and leadership;
it operates on a
rotational basis, so
that all children, from
youngsters to teens,
get to be the “leader”
in the home, for a week
at a time. Available
from the iTunes store.
Francesco Alessi | Dreamstime.com