" Make them... No.. ask them to allways be polite and say yes please, and no thank you..allways. "

" Our children know it's expected of them and while there is some level of complaining, it has lessened over the years. The 10 year old gets them finished before the 13 year old and I hope they will continue the practice when they are adults. Lead by example, mimic the behavior you wish to see and the results may surprise you! "

" Yes and it's my fault. I was never really taught to do thank you notes, so it is a habit I struggle with and my efforts to have my children do them are sporadic. Maybe there's a resolution in the making! "

" Yes, it is a lost art, but not on me. My mother was a very proper woman, but her rule was thank the person in person when you get the gift, or if it was sent, call them and thank them, or write a note if they were half-way across the country.

On my 18th birthday my mother made me sit down and write out thank yous to everyone for a change, and I hated it and threw bratty teenage fits. She died that night. The next few days my father and I were inundated with food, flowers, and memoriams. And I sat down and wrote every single person a thank you. That was also while juggling my homework of my senior year and writing my thesis. But I made sure every single person got a note.

And if this could be a lesson to anybody, please write thank you notes, not an email, but a real note in the mail. It takes maybe 10 minutes, but it's so worth it. I feel that it's my duty to my mother, bless her soul. "

" I taught my daughter at a young age to send thank-you's. Now that she's 17 I don't even have to bat an eye. Christmas night she came and asked if I had stamps because she had already written out her thank you cards. It's sad to think that people don't write them it only takes a minute and it does mean so much to the people that receive them. I think it's only a lost art to the lazy ones. "