Good Judgement, Phase II

So, as I posted a few days ago, I liked the idea of allowing our kids to do more on their own, using their good judgement as opposed to mom law.  This past weekend, Colton needed to finish the last of his thank-you notes from his birthday. He had gotten a few done the week before, but the last ones were still waiting to be completed.

Deciding that I was not going to sit next to him and tell him what to write, I sent him to the table with his stack of note cards and told him to use his good judgement when thanking people for their gifts.  He moaned a little and complained about needing help, but I assured him that as a 9 year-old he was now old enough to do it himself. I sat the gifts on the table next to him so that he could thank people for what they chose for him, explaining that he should use detail. He nodded and dug in to the task at hand, without further complaints.

Quite amazingly, he sat there pounding out cards with exuberance, obviously proud of his ability to master the thank-you notes sans mother. As I was working in the kitchen, I heard him yell, "I'm done" as he ran off to play. I quietly tiptoed over and peeked. Sitting there on the table was the gift that my girl-friend, Micki, had gotten him, a shirt box filled with fun....Nike sweat bands for his tennis, a giant ball point pen, a word game of tiles all inside a banana, a Cardinal's baseball cap and several other thoughtful items. Wanting to see how he managed to thank her for her very generous gifts, I flipped open his card...