An original Christmas present Give a memory and a thank you

We received a “patron”, a “gift”. It was in the summer during a family trip with the kids. Our children, just like all the others, got a secret “patron”, who sent them a thank you note for something every single day.

Every evening, before we went to sleep, we waited behind the door for someone to push a small hand-drawn picture with a short text under the door. A thanks for what our children had done that day. For example, the text went something like, “Kryštof, we thank you for your inspiration – for jumping carefree, jumping on the trampoline in your pyjamas.”, or “Eliška, we thank you for adding courage – for riding the floating plate in the pool.” Or, “Kryštof, we thank you for your determination to bathe in the freezing outside pool in the morning. We are starting to think about hardening ourselves.”

The kids loved that moment. They realised that someone was really taking notice of them and was getting pleasure from being here with them. After returning from the holidays, we put the pictures with the thank you notes on the wall. I had to read the thank you notes out loud even long after the trip was over. In the end, they learned the notes by heart and “read” them themselves.

So I had an idea. Why not give the kids, grandparents, and other relatives a thank you note for Christmas?* Because in giving we secretly prepared the thanks for the kids. With the assistance of the children, we prepared gifts for the other members of the family. We pulled out pictures of the grandmas, uncles, cousins, etc., out of a box and thought of what to thank them for on the back side of the photo. For a trip to the castle, for a swim in the pool, for a trip in the forest, for a lending us some toys, even for building a snowman. We put the photos with the thank you notes in an envelope made from plain paper, stuck on a name and a small decoration. Now we are waiting for Christmas day for them to open it.

Next time, instead of making a picture with a text, we can write a letter, give an audio track or make a video….

The parents will value this in context of, recommended training of the memory as a basic building block of all learning. Even in context with creating memories.. Baby Minds, Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D., A Bantam Book, 2000

Author: Lenka Míkovcová Translation: Marek Hubbell