Hi Dr. Laura, 

I thought of a clever way to teach my child to respond to a "giver" of a gift when the child doesn't see giver in person.  My son would receive things by mail, either gifts or checks, as we lived out of the area. When he received them, the rule was he couldn't play with the gift or cash the check (I held the checks, of course,) until he either thanked the giver by phone, or when old enough, he wrote a thank you note! It worked well for us, even at a young age. I would say let's call so in so and thank them, or when he was older, he would most likely get a check, in which he wrote the note, then we would talk about cashing or banking. Anyway, that's my clever little story for the day. It worked for us. 

I love your show and THANK YOU for it. It helps me so much in my life and in this crazy world we live in. Clear, concise thinking....what a concept! Been a listener for over 25 years. 

Karen



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