Crappy Boy loves to make and send cards to people. He has been doing this since he was four and not a week goes by without him writing a letter to someone. Friends, family and a couple pen pals too.
Initially, he just signed his name and drew pictures or applied stickers. But lately, he has been interested in writing actual messages that I help him spell.
He wanted to write his own thank you cards for his birthday last fall. Wonderful idea!
He sat down to do the first one. I suggested starting with something classic. Something like, “Thank you for coming to my party…” but he said no. He knew exactly what he wanted to say.
This is what it was:
True. They do have an amazing hairless cat. And he just learned the word ‘alopecia’ so he wanted to use it. (Here is a photo of the actual card he wrote. I took a picture before I sent it, how could I not? The card recipient thought it was hilarious, by the way. Our friends are cool like that.)
Earlier today, he sat down at the table and started writing a couple cards.
Hmmm, that is interesting. He hasn’t ever written to him before.
I ask him if he wanted help writing a message.
What is he going to say to President Obama? Is he going to offer advice or suggestions on how to make the world a better place? Is he going to ask a poignant question about the future?
I guess all those discussions about our government have paid off!
And…
True. Probably.
—————–
By the way, here are instructions for writing to the White House in case your little ones have things to say.
Also, too busy to use stickers? Wow, the president’s job sucks.
Note to self: use stickers.
OMG, I bet that makes the President’s day.
So sweet! I bet it would.
Di d the White House write back?My little sister still has a letter from the Irish President in the 1970’s , it’s a reply from a congrats letter she wrote him as a little girl..
Hilarious!
This is just more than cute. Übercute! Love it!
I love this post. Your son could make cards for the troops. They LOVE getting mail and your son is a particular brand of genius that they would truly enjoy!
That’s brilliant.
I love that idea!
I agree- GREAT idea!!! :o)
My husband’s unit got a care package of handmade cards and gifts from elementry school studends when he was in Iraq. He got a blanket, because it was winter at the time and very cold, and a card that said something to the effect of “you are the best”. He called me crying because they were so sweet and touching. I think it is one of his strongest, and obviously best, memories from the deployment. I can guarantee the troops still overseas would absolutely LOVE some cards from crappy boy (and his friends too!), even if they only ask about hair loss diseases =) I believe the website “Soldiers’ Angels” can point you in the right direction. http://soldiersangels.org/
(Different Emma here).
Check out http://www.operationgratitude.com too… they take letters for the troops, as well as donations of excess halloween candy and all sorts of things for care packages.
Ok, that made ME cry! My son was a soldier.Tell your husband thanks!
I loved getting kids’ letters when I was in Iraq. My mom’s second grade class wrote me a whole ton of letters and I got to hand them out to my unit. We were all so tickled by the drawings and the things they chose to say, like, “guns are scary but not as much as monsters.” or, “we learned in school that it is very hot there, and there are no sprinklers. Do they have ice cubes?” no joke. Funniest shit ever. Totally get your kids on board with this, and by all means let them say whatever they want. Truth from kids is pure, and without agenda, and cannot therefore be inappropriate. We wrote back, too.
Angel
I agree with this! When I was in Iraq we got some cards from a class of young kids. The funniest one that I will never, ever forget was from a boy (I’m presuming) and it said in huge bold letters: “Bring out the Bazookas!!!!!”
Yes, some quirky kid humor is just the ticket over there.
If anyone should use stickers, it should be the POTUS.
Agree!!
I am 40 years young and still use stickers on all of my friendly correspondences.
Yay! Stickers are awesome.
That’s awesome!
Please post when he gets a letter back 🙂 I think it would be cool if Obama thanks him for the stickers!
Awesome! I need to get my little ones into writing letters. Or just sending stickers. Either way.
I bet he might find time to use those stickers… you never know!
That is adorable! And his penmanship is quite good for a four year old!
Crappy boy is not 4 now….he is 6 or 7.
I bet the president loves to get letters from kids. He seems like that kind of guy. Especially ones with stickers in them. 😉
I hope so. I mean, I doubt he ever sees 1/1000th of what is sent there. But I like to think that he does. Or at least SOMEONE will get a kick out of it.
A friend’s 6 year old just got a letter BACK from President Obama, along with a signed photo.
My son wrote to him in 2nd grade and got a letter back. You never know!
I wrote to President Ford as a kid (hmm, guess I’m dating myself). We got a signed picture of Liberty (his dog) and a letter, maybe something else (can’t remember). It was fun! So maybe Crappy Boy will get a reply! (if not from the President, from someone at least.)
Love your boys. Can’t wait to see what kind of quirky personality the younger will exhibit.
I’m picturing sparkly stars on memos and legislation. Maybe he should write to Congress too.
Yeah, I think it couldn’t hurt.
This response almost made me pee my pants. I love the visual!
I too must incorporate the use of stickers in my daily job duties.
Grace, I’m sure he’s too busy to have his day made.
Love it! I wonder who will be offended by this post. LOL
Hopefully everyone has calmed down and a mere mention of a name won’t cause an uproar. Hopefully. 😉
People need to calm down if they are offended by a child writing to the president, although it wouldn’t surprise me! I haven’t been a big fan of some recent presidents (cough, cough, Bush) but I wouldn’t have been offended by a post about a kid writing to him. On the other hand some people are acting out right crazy lately, lol. Personally I think it’s adorable regardless of political views 🙂
Please don’t PRE-emptively scold. Why can’t we just get along and not actively look for trouble?
I hope he gets a letter back from obama!
My husband thinks that stickers are like a virus , easily spread around and hard to get rid of 🙂 I have 2 boys and 4 girls I LOVE stickers……..just not in the laundry, bathroom and stuck to my butt which is where they always seem to wind up
Laundry and my butt.
Stickers have ruined a few of my laundry items too, although they seem to add to the aesthetics of my butt.
Haha.
Glitter is a virus too.
My daughter wrote a letter to Woody from Toy Story yesterday proposing marriage and future plans to him. She drew a stamp on the envelope… I of course wrote down what it said in a corner, the date she did it, and stuck it in a memory box. 🙂 Someday when she finds her love I’ll show him he was a second choice. Woody was first.
I’m a bit afraid of what my daughter would write to Obama. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be nice.
I love this!
You can actully send letters to disney characters and get signed pictures back.
Gabrielle,
How? My son would love to send one to Rapunzel, he is in love with her hair!
Rachel
Here is the information on getting a signed picture postcard back from your favorite Disney character. http://ylindo01.blogspot.com/2013/09/write-your-favorite-disney-character.html
That is so cute! I need to start trying to get my son into writing correspondence. Using the internet is fine, but who doesn’t love receiving handwritten cards and letters?
This is awesome… perhaps a grant writer in the making? 😉
When I worked in the White House (during the Clinton Administration), they had an office dedicated strictly for responding to children’s correspondence. It was the most wonderful office in the entire White House.
Ooh… I want that job! How can I get that job???
Really? That is interesting!
That’s so cool! In 2nd grade our whole class wrote letters to President Clinton, and I was so excited to get a letter back (I still have it actually). I’m so glad they do this!
Ok, Marna, I think you officially described the coolest job on the planet! Never knew. Way cool!
Marina,
I wonder if you worked with my step-mom. She worked in that office during Clinton’s administration. Email me offline and we can discuss.
Rachel
Oh and she too loved the kids letters 🙂
That is awesome! I love the cat card, how cool is that? He can write to me any time 🙂
I hope Obama has time for stickers! Stickers are the best. I used to have an awesome collection….
My daughter, who turned 6 on Christmas Day, wrote a letter to Santa wishing him a Merry Christmas and thanking him for the presents and left it taped to our fireplace. I of course kept it and put it in her baby book!
With regards to the POTUS, no matter how one feels about his policies, the position deserves respect and I think it is awesome that your son wrote him a note. I truely hope the president himself gets to see that one; I am sure his days could use some sunshine!
I love the Obama card but that one about the alopecia-ridden cat is priceless. Those are the kinds of thank you cards I’d want to receive.
Stickers are a double edged sword here: so great but then my 3-yr-old daughter decides she doesn’t like where she’s stuck them so she rips them off and thus begins the downward spiral into destroying the lovely card or project she’s made. I’ve learned to snatch the creations before she has time to reconsider.
Maybe Obama reads your blog, so he will be expecting Crappy Boy’s letter.
Now THAT would be AWESOME!
Oh, I’m sure he does. I mean, he has kids, right?
Maybe Mrs. Obama reads it!
Well, if they dont they should!
OMG! Guest post from the White House!!!!
That would be groovy!
That’s just about the coolest post I think I’ve ever read. I wish everyday that us Aussies had the same passion for our prime minister that we would send letters with stickers!
Crappy Boy rocks x
My almost 4yo has a group of almost 4yo pen pals in Oz (we’re in South Africa). I “met” their mums on-line and one of the ladies thought it would be a cool thing to do. He gets SO excited when he sees his name on an envelope. There is something special about getting snail mail 🙂
Liz, my granddaughter (turned 5 the end of Sept) loves to write and draw pix. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a pen pal from an entirely different continent and share pictures? If Amber could share my e-mail address with you, maybe he could get even more excited about getting something that is half-a-world away!
HILARIOUS!!!! I wish I was on his mailing list.
I’d use Crappy® stickers! Are there some in your store?
That is actually a fantastic idea.
HAHA Your son is hilarious 🙂 I would love to see a letter from a child asking a question like that and saying he likes it because it’s different/weird. I think people need to keep in mind that children are questioning the world around them and want to let their opinions be known!
That’s cute of him writing to the president. And people who are offended about it need to get over it. He’s a little kid who wants to write to the president, who cares what side he’s on, the kid just wants to write! 🙂
I’ll say it again – your kid is SO awesome….. 🙂
I am fairly certain that President Obama will get around to using those stickers.
I would have chosen the letters “F U” to the the President rather than “H I”, just my preference though
I don’t honestly think anyone here cares about that.
Why do you feel it’s necessary to comment that? It’s a cute story about a kid.
Good thing this blog isn’t about you then.
But the important question here is, would you have included stickers? 🙂
I love you, Amber. Perfect reply question. 🙂
Total glass full kinda girl.
I love it that your son thought to write to our President. And very thoughtful to send the stickers! I think Mr. Obama would get a kick out of them!
That’s awesome. Your boys are too funny!
That is so sweet! My 6 yo daughter is very interested in the president. I asked her if she wanted to write to him and she asked if she could color a picture for him instead 🙂
Oh and just a thought I had: maybe if more politicians got letters with stickers in them, they might loosen up and get more work done. Getting a sweet letter from a little kid might just remind them why they’re there in the first place 🙂
Cool! Maybe this will result in a future post title, “Crabby Boy Meets the President.” 🙂
Crappy boy even…
I think “Why does your cat have alopecia” will be my new ice breaker.
OMG! I was over at my cousin’s house last week & my Godson, who is 7, was writing out what I thought were birthday invites. I asked him what he was doing & he said he was writing Thank You cards for his gifts. However, his party isn’t til this Sunday. He told me he was putting games in each of the cards because he didn’t know what people were giving him. I guess he’s drawing mazes & word games. I loved the fact that he even tried to spell my name on the envelope as I walked in (Alisin). It’s funny what goes through little ones’ heads!
My kids have written to the President, the Pope, and the Queen of England. All of the responses were cool and made their day, but there was something very special about the Queen’s lady-in-waiting who actually wrote a reply based upon the letter received. Nice paper too. The other two were just stock responses.
That is amazing. I’ll have to mention writing to royalty. I’m sure he’ll have loads of inappropriate castle questions about dungeons.
Ok, that is freaking hilarious! I especially love the cat letter because I have a hairless cat and they are weird…but writing Obama to say hi is priceless. Thanks for the laugh!
Obama does write back to some children – see this
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-mcgonnigal/obama-responds-to-10-year-olds-heartfelt-letter-about-her-dads_b_2074213.html
I wanna see a picture of the alopecia cat.
Here he is: http://www.kveller.com/mayim-bialik/mayims-cat-to-the-rescue/
You are friends with Mayim Bialik?! :-O
See, it is Blossom!!
Oh dear lord, that is about the ugliest cat I have ever seen! LOL, no offense, just my oppinion. 🙂
I saw that she gave a great review for your book – that is awesome!
Omg he is too funny. I laughed for at least 10 minutes after I read this! Poor hairless cat. Obama is lucky! Stickers are awesome!
I cannot wait for the post you write telling us that President Obama wrote back. Crappy boy is awesome.
So cute! What penpal do you use? I want my son to have a penpal!!
I set it up via an old blog a couple years ago. I just asked if anyone wanted to hook their kid up with a penpal. Makes me wish I had a forum here, I bet you could find someone!
my 24-m-o girl has VORACIOUS appetite for stickers. she consumes them all immediately the way i do a chocolate bar that is meant to go out in small squares over a number of days. on saturday, she got a 20+ sheet of “my little pony” stickers in the mail from her uncle and within 10 min. had stuck them ALL onto herself.
My son sticks them all over the walls of our apartment and car. Some can be tough to get off. Wonder if they are tough to get off, or like any art project a warm bath works?
I think I’d pee my pants if I got a card from one of my friend’s kids about my cat’s alopecia.
And I bet he’s wrong. Obama will be all over those stickers.
This made me realize my son needs a pen pal. Do you remember the thrill of a real letter (not a bill, haha) in the mailbox? Not an email, although that’s fun too, but a real letter you’d been waiting weeks and weeks for?
I wonder if kids here write letters to the king. I never thought about it.
Hi Robin, I am looking for a pen pal for my 6 year old son! Either U.S. or overseas is ok, the more stamps (i.e. expensive stickers) the better! 🙂
Awesome! Crappy pictures: making dreams come true. 🙂
My daughter wrote a heartfelt congratulations letter to the POTUS and got a great letter back with a photograph. It was a form letter but it had a bunch of handouts about the White House garden — including STICKERS!
My step-mom actually used to work in the mail area (volunteer I believe) under President Clinton. She loved it and said her favorites were when kids wrote in letters. I know they sent them something extra, but I don’t remember what they did. Though, that was under Clinton, so who knows if that has changed, for better or worse.
I think I might encourage my five year old son to write something to the President. I was very proud when I asked who the President was and he answered Barack Obama.
Ah the little things. Can’t remember his city or state, but knows the name of the President.
R-
What I think would be totes awesome is if Crappy Boy’s return letter has the stickers on it that he sent the POTUS. That would show that they actually read and look through the envelopes. 🙂
Wow.. Your 4 year old has great handwriting… good job mum!
He’s not 4 now, I think he is 6. She mentioned that he has been writting letters SINCE he was 4. 🙂
Isn’t that Blossom??
That is sooo cute! I really hope the President writes back!! If he does you must tell us!! 🙂
Aw, I hope the president is glad someone got in touch just to say “hi” rather than “please solve all the problems of the world” or “you are terrible”!
My nearly-5-year-old writes the occasional letter to my mum – I love her getting post (the 5 year old and my mum).
Writing letters is a dying art. So cool that your kiddo is into that. Also, a very good habit to write thank you cards. Your kid sounds so sweet. Good job!
POTUS does see the letters and cards. In fact, at today’s press conference about gun violence, there were four children attending with their parent- they were chosen because they all wrote President Obama about gun violence.
I bet Obama would LOVE to receive two stickers. I know I would too. 🙂
Your son will take over the world.
I love this!! I too would ADORE getting a card like the cat one 🙂 I am going to highly encourage letter writing when we get passed the scribbling stage 🙂
As someone probably on the other side of the political spectrum, I still think it’s awesome that you talk to him about government and that he wants to write to the president. Great job! Raising kids who understand how our government works and how citizens should be involved is more important than picking sides.
Word.
Hahaha I love the alopecia one … perhaps he should ask the president why presidents always get gray hair … I’ve always wanted to ask the president (any of them) if they really thought the job wouldn’t age them like it has all of their predecessors, but always thought that would be kind of rude, coming from an adult … well, that, and I’ve never met a president … semantics.
I won a major Presidential award during the Bush era. An award for adults. Along with the fancy certificate (and a financial award) were two pages of stickers of the presidential pets. So, I’m guessing the POTUS does use stickers 😉
So cute! I am gonna ask my 6 y/o daughter if she wants to write the president. Not sure if she will, we dont talk about politics to them…maybe we will. 🙂
How stinkin cute! I can’t help but wonder if he draws as crappy as you do? LOL!
If he ever wants to send one to Guam! Let me know my boys like mail and we’d be sure to send one back from this dinky island!
Wendy
I just love your blog!!
When my daughter was in Kindergarten, she wrote a letter to then-President George W. Bush. She received a personalized letter and “autographed” photo in return. I hope your son does as well, from Obama!
Man, your kids are awesome.
And, yes, he should write to the troops overseas! I’m sure the letters would bring them some much needed laughs 🙂
When I was six my mom wrote to President Bush (the first) to get a birthday card for my 80 year old great great uncle and an anniversary card for my grandparents (married 50 years). She mentioned in the letter that I share the same birthday as President Bush and we were so excited to get a special card back! It was a big deal because supposedly you had to be 80 to get a birthday card from the president so I felt very special. All these years later I still have a soft spot for President Bush because of it despite not really agreeing with his politics (and despite him likely having nothing to do with the card!)
I think it’s sweet to write to the president. It’s a position that deserves respect whether we agree with his politics or not. And honestly if your child doesn’t respect the office of the President, shame on you as a parent.
Crappy Boy is so awesome.
As an old-school letter writer myself (average of 4 a week), I think Crappy Boy is the coolest. I second the long thread about writing letters to the troops. My husband is in the US Navy and when we had a layover in Philly, we stopped at the USO- tons of amazing letters from kids. Silly to sweet to reverent, they made me cry and laugh- and my husband too. I’m fairly certain you can write to Disney characters and they will write back. He could certainly try your local government, state representatives, and such. Maybe someone needs to tell them “HI” too. Or whomever he wants. The more stickers, the better!! I’d attach a sticker to this, if I could.
BEST THANK YOU CARD MESSAGE EVER!!! I’m still giggling…
FYI, if you send your baby announcement to the WH they will send you a congratulations letter.. no stickers though:(
I love hearing about your boys! Crappy boy has such a sparky personality-it must be a constant delight to see the kinds of things he comes up with!
On the sticker front, they are wonderful on letters. Not so wonderful on your butt. On at least 2 occasions now, I have had school mums point out a fair few stickers on my butt as I am picking up my son from school.
I’m fairly confident my 3 year old daughter does it deliberately. lol
This is the best thing I’ve ever read. Ever, ever. Like, ever.
Do you use Handwriting Without Tears? ‘Cause we are halfway through the kindy book and my boy also writes in eerily similar all caps except for the letter i! I’ve wondered if they didn’t make a mistake putting that one off with the middle starting letters, since the lower case is so fun and distinctive.
And your boy does have great handwriting! Good job teaching him about spaces between words, we haven’t gotten that far yet. Love your blog, thanks for sharing!
I bet he’ll just surprise him and use those stickers!
Not sure why I got sucked into your archives today of all days (perhaps because my house looks like a hurricane hit it?), but I have to say that THIS is my favourite post – because, like the cat, I have Alopecia. 🙂 (I have hair *now*, but this time last year – not so much.)
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