I remember with fondness my first penpal...she lived in Papua, New Guinea. I remember her paper thin envelopes and the beautiful stamps that graced the upper right corner. There was no chance that we were going to meet so we took our time and our letters to share our worlds with each other. It was a magical experience - writing discovery.
I've had many penpals over the course of my writing lifetime - many relatives (of all ages - cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces), people I worked with who live all over the world (thank you Disney) and a few through school trips/projects/assignments. Of course this all started in an age before email/the Internet and texting. How would our relationships have been different if we just texted or messaged or emailed (if we didn't pour our hearts out on the page, send photos or wait an agonizing week or more for our letters to arrive)? Different, just different I guess.
So the cool thing is that my daughter has a penpal! Her name is Abby and she turns four on April 16th. They've only had two playdates (and one of those was just before we left for Cali because she lives quite far away) but they play wonderfully together. They send each other drawings, letters (with a little dictating to their Moms), little gifts and are building a friendship in a really cool way. I'm so excited for the both of them. Abby is Piper's girl and Piper is Abby's girl. They love each other. This is how they talk.
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| Penpals! |
We are sending a special girl (Abby), some special mail (it's her birthday), and maybe, just maybe Tinkerbell might be involved!
Penpals...rethink it. Maybe a new way to get to know an old friend or maybe, a new way for your kids to interact with others. I'd love to hear if anyone gives it a go. I can't tell you how excited my daughter gets when she has mail. It's a wonderful thing to see.
And looking for something different to send? I'm sending out two Sincerely Scent cards from Scentsy! They are so fun! As soon as I heard about them I knew I needed to get on board. Thanks for introducing them to me Penny. A card you can personalize with photos and text and a scent of your choosing! Check them out here and my girl Penny can hook you up with credits!
351/1000 One special package, two thank you notes, two Sincerely Scent cards, a postcard, something for fun and...that makes 7 for the count!
1 comment:
I had pen pals too growing up and I cherish the experience in its true, old school form to this day. I'm super excited that Ben's learning to write now and he's started sending letters to a few kids of different friends of mine who live far and away. VERY cool! Olivia's in on it too and adds her drawings to the packets that go overseas.
I agree that it's a totally different ball game to have a "pen" pal now vs when we were kids; however, I think added components like Skype and videos over text messages are enriching their experience in a genuinely lovely way that we never had the chance to do. I was almost in tears last summer when my kids were using my iPhone to talk to my friend's son in Darwin, Australia on her iPhone. At the time, they were 5Y, 4Y and 2Y so it was absurdly cute to watch their faces light up at the voice of their "friend".
I hope more parents hop on the pen pal band wagon in this age of modernity and give their kids the chance to make awesome memories like the ones I (and obviously you) cherish from these special exchanges.
Great post, Erin. Thanks for sharing!
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