This morning I received a text from one of my dear friends. Here it goes:
“Recently I have received an onslaught of children’s chain letters. You know the ones…send my kid stickers, move your kid’s names over to the #1 spot and send to 6 people and he or she will receive 30 packs in no time. Stop the madness MMB!!!!!”
Oh yes, Mastering Mommy Brain is happy to stop the madness. Perfect timing for this to occur, because I have a kiddie chain letter sitting in my “to do” pile. I keep moving it to the bottom, because I cannot decide what to do with it. I have been a sending offender twice before…once doing a lottery chain letter and once sending on a children’s book one. I actually loved the children’s book one because one of my son’s favorite books came from there (The Cleverest Spider – super cute), and we did receive a bunch of books, but honestly, I had to go to the post office to send it out. Who likes to go to the post office? Not this girl!!
So what do you do? Ignore them and throw it in the trash? Write a little note to the parent that you will not participate? Are you wrong to not take part? This is so not a big deal, but these are the things us moms get to stress about! Right now, my husband is shaking his head. He might even be rolling his eyes.
Anyway, I decided that I had to address the letter in my to do pile today, asking for stickers. Here is the email that I wrote to the parent who sent it on:
“Dear Friend,
Thank you so much for sending on the letter about the sticker pass – while it is such a cute idea, we have not been participating in chain letters requests, and D will not be able to send on stickers. It is not his fault, but mine – I can barely remember to buy milk at the store, let alone a pack of stickers. I did love the idea in your note about the fact that kids love to receive mail, it is so true! So, instead of sending stickers, D will be sending off a note with a self-made picture. I hope that this brings a smile to A’s face.
Thank you!”
I shared this idea with my friend, and look at what her daughter whipped up to put in the mail:
I know that this picture would brighten not only my son’s day, but mine as well!
At the end of the day, I do think that it is fun to get mail. While there is so much less personal mail sent these days, I find it is the first thing that I look for when I pick up the mail for the day. Well, that and my US Weekly, but I digress…
I love the fact that my children learn about doing something for other people to make them happy and that we have a little project to do together that has a purpose. I also love that it does not cost us money to take part (besides the 45 cent stamp), I do not have to remember to buy one more thing at the store, and I avoid running out to make copies of a letter.
What are your thoughts? Are my friend and I overreacting? Should we just shut up and send off the darn stickers??
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What a great way to handle the dreaded chain letter. I never liked these things when I was a kid and I still don’t. I did get suckered into one of the book chain letters a couple years ago (now I’m realizing that you may have been one of my targets! LOL!) and it definitely did not live up to its expectations. I refuse to participate in these again, but love the way you handled it. I’ll go that route if I’m ever invited to participate in one again.
Thanks for sharing!
What a brilliant idea!!!
I was happy to read this post because we just received the book chain letter in the mail for a 2nd time. Although I have participated in these in the past (you and Christine were one of my targets, sorry)I myself have put it to the bottom of the “To Do” items as I don’t have time to participate. I feel bad not participating because that means 2 kids won’t get books. Your idea is great and will definitely put it to use. Thanks for sharing!
So are we making a “mommy pact” here on Mastering Mommy Brain that we will all just say no to these chain letters?! (If I were saying this aloud it would be in a very excited, hopeful tone)
I am SO happy you posted this! The dreaded chain letters… ughh!! I truly cringe every time I get one! It really is a stress of mine, so I’m happy to hear that I’m not the only one that feels this way… I agree with Jennifer, lets all just say no to chain letters!!
Yes, break all chain letters, that’s the way to go! They are manipulative, repetitive and very annoying. I like that you suggested an alternative. You handled it better than I could, I probably would’ve simply screamed inside my head at the person who passed it on to me and tossed the chain without giving them a response, because I wouldn’t be capable of keeping a civil tongue at that point. Would need a cooling off period.
woo hoo! Mommy pact =)
yes yes yes!!!! =)
Brillient idea !!!!