I read a quote recently which was something along the lines of  'A thank you given promptly, thanks twice.' It spoke to me straight away and stirred just a few pangs of guilt as I know that I'm not always the quickest to send a 'thanks'.

The truth is a like to do thank you's the proper way, writing them down on a note that can go snail mail. There seems to be fewer and fewer reasons to send post these days so anything I can do to put pen to paper makes me happy. I've learned though that it can often take me a while (understatement) to get round to my written thank you's and an immediate text is a much better (and polite!) course of action.

Having said that I'm quite determined to instill a habit of gratitude in my kids and, belatedly or not, like them to help with sending thank you cards after their birthdays. It's just over two weeks since mine and Wilf's birthday and I'm pleased to report that we've made good headway with our cards so far, some have even been delivered!

I thought I'd share just a few tips picked up along the way:

• Make a list! I find it MUCH easier to write a list of gifts that have been given that I can refer to when writing cards, and who doesn't love a list just for an excuse to tick things off ?! I used the above free printable from Fraser & Parsley, which you can find here. It was so useful to have when Wilf was ripping presents open at his party and I could quickly jot down who they were from, before the card/tag was taken from the parcel.

• Have a set of cards at the ready. As with my good intentions to write thank you's, my downfall in getting them out promptly in the past has been down to my intention to MAKE them too! Well, this time round I admitted defeat before I even started and made sure I had a good supply of lovely notecards to hand. I bought some cards which would double up for both Wilf and I, two in one cards saves on postage! I also used a lovely set of elephant notes from Fraser & Parsley which matched the invitations I sent out and went to those who came to his party. They have such a lovely range of party stationery, I actually couldn't wait to write in these and wrote them the evening of his birthday (leaving space for his handwritten name of course!)

• Keep a stash of stamps. Another downfall in my letter writing escapades is that however quick I am to write a note, putting it in the postbox is entirely different matter! Having a set of stamps ready so that the card is good to go next time you're passing a box, gives you much better odds to actually send it promptly too.

I'd love to know how you say thank you and whether you have any tricks up your sleeve to help you stay organised. Do drop me a comment below, I love hearing from you.