kayb85

My 6 year old son has announced that he's NOT going to go to work
when he's big like his daddy. He's going to stay home and live with
us forever, and he's going to be an inventor and make money from his
inventions. Cool! He'd be a really good inventor.

Last night he drew a diagram of an invention and dictated the
description of his picture to me for me to write down. It was for a
Hershey Kiss making machine. He's been to Hershey's chocolate world
and he's seen how they make kisses and I can tell that a lot of his
ideas came from there. It was a really neat diagram of
an "invention" even if it wasn't an original idea.

My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they
like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then
write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they
already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he
should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems
deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might
hurt him.

Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?

Sheila

[email protected]

I would consider mailing it. Who knows they may send your six yr. old
something cool in return.
Many manufactures know what their fans ages are and acknowledge that.

One time 2 couple years ago my daughter was sitting on the bed playing with
Lego's. A piece she had was from a pirate ship so it was longer and skinny. We
suspected that she had inhaled it. After visiting two hospitals for x-rays
they could not find it. I called the Lego company to ask what their records said
as far as the danger of puncturing through her stomach or a lung and to tell
them that they dont show in an Xray. Anyway to make a long story short they
mailed her a big box of Duplo's for her age.
The Lego came out a few days later and we all celebrated.

For a small child of 6 I think they would get a kick out of the interest he
has taken.
Laura

http://drewfamily.freehosting.net/
*****************************************************************************

<<<<<
My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they
like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then
write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they
already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he
should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems
deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might
hurt him.

Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?

Sheila


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deborah Lewis

If you mail it, keep a copy!<g>

He's probably not expecting anything in return for his great idea. He'll
probably be happy just mailing it in.
Dylan used to send all kinds of ideas for dinosaur names and good hints
about where to look for dinosaurs to the Museum of the Rockies. He never
expected anything in return, he was just happy to do his part for
science. <g> One time they sent him a Velociraptor claw and told him
they appreciated his help.<g>

Deb L

catherine aceto

Why not? I bet someone there would get a kick out of it and they might write back!

-Cat

Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?

Sheila




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dawn Adams

Sheila writes:
>My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they
>like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then
>write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they
>already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he
>should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems
>deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might
>hurt him.
>
>Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?

I don't understand why not. I can't see any downside to mailing it to Hershey at all. At the very least it will brighten the day of someone there. You son may or may not get a response (are you worried he won't?) but you can explain that. He may not want a response anyway, just the opportunity to share his idea with Hershey. But...They may like having a fan and future inventor and send him a letter, coupons, chocolate...Who knows? Give him the opportunity to find out. I've sent off letters to corporations and you'd be surprised how grateful they are for positive correspondence and how they show their appreciation for it.
Go for it!

Dawn (in NS)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/5/03 7:14:33 AM, sheran@... writes:

<< My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they

like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then

write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they

already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he

should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems

deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might

hurt him. >>

I wouldn't lie.

Maybe you could write a cover letter for it and say he had visited and was
talking about becoming an inventor, and had asked you to send his letter.

They might send him a form letter or a coupon, or he might get a real letter,
or maybe neither. But I think a cover letter from you would help.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/5/2003 8:14:26 AM Central Standard Time, sheran@...
writes:


> My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they
> like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then
> write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they
> already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he
> should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems
> deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might
> hurt him.
>

~~~

We've mailed advertising slogans to Chik-Fil-A and engineering ideas to
Honda. We got nice letters back. The letter from Chik-Fil-A said they couldn't
use his ideas because they pay big bucks to an advertising firm to do their
advertising, and they couldn't keep the letter because they didn't want to be
accused of copyright violation (something like that). They sent a couple coupons
for free kids meals. The letter from Honda said they would keep his idea on
file and if they ever needed it, they'd contact him. No free car coupons,
though!

The attorneys for those companies have probably already carefully considered
how to handle letters like that from kids. I'm sure my son is not the only
kid who has written to them with their ideas. The only drawback I could find
from the Honda one was that he thought he might get rich if they used his idea,
and he waited for an answer and dreamt out-loud about it for a couple of weeks
until they replied. (His idea is a common one about magnetic cars, and he
sent a few drawings of how it could work. He has since found that several of
his friends have had the same idea.)

I figured that you never know what those companies are going to do with a
letter like that, he might indeed get rich, it couldn't hurt, and it certainly
would provide a learning experience that I couldn't possibly manufacture. He
dealt with them sincerely and they took him seriously and responded in kind, and
I'm grateful that he had that experience.

Tuck


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lisa M. Cottrell Bentley

> Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?

Definitely mail it as asked. Photocopy it for yourself though. Do a bit of
research to find out exactly who or which department you should mail it to.
Also prepare him for no response. My daughter, now age 7, spent hours
writing to authors, musicians, and ZOOM when she was 6. She never got
responses and she is still disappointed.

-Lisa in AZ

Mary

From: <SandraDodd@...>


<< Maybe you could write a cover letter for it and say he had visited and
was
talking about becoming an inventor, and had asked you to send his letter.>>


I would agree with Sandra and everyone else who said go ahead and send it
for him. I like the idea of letting them know how the whole thing came
about. I think if they realize that, they would be more likely to maybe send
a letter or something back. Your son will be excited I'm sure.




Mary B.
http://www.homeschoolingtshirts.com

zenmomma2kids

>>My daughter, now age 7, spent hours writing to authors, musicians,
and ZOOM when she was 6. She never got responses and she is still
disappointed.>>

Bummer. :-(

Casey wrote to Mary Pope Osborne about her Magic Treehouse series
when she was 5. She got a nice, signed letter in response fairly
quickly. It was probably a form letter, but Casey loved it. We still
have it.

She wrote a really creative letter to Lemony Snicket about the Series
of Unfortunate Events books last year. Nothing. She still wonders why
he wouldn't write back. I told her maybe he's in hiding still and
didn't get the letter. ;-)

Life is good.
~Mary

kayb85

Thanks for the input everyone. Looks like Hershey will be getting
some mail from us! :)

I can see him being disappointed that they don't implement his idea.
He wants to make money from his inventions so that he never has to
have a job. (Deep thought for a six year old!) But if he gets
disappointed I'll remind him that a lot of inventors have lots of
inventions not succeed until they hit one that does.
Sheila


> The attorneys for those companies have probably already carefully
considered
> how to handle letters like that from kids. I'm sure my son is not
the only
> kid who has written to them with their ideas. The only drawback I
could find
> from the Honda one was that he thought he might get rich if they
used his idea,
> and he waited for an answer and dreamt out-loud about it for a
couple of weeks
> until they replied.

Lisa M. Cottrell Bentley

> I can see him being disappointed that they don't implement his idea.
> He wants to make money from his inventions so that he never has to
> have a job. (Deep thought for a six year old!) But if he gets
> disappointed I'll remind him that a lot of inventors have lots of
> inventions not succeed until they hit one that does.

Get him a book on Thomas Edison or Leonardo Da Vinci. I just love Edison's
story. Homeschooled (kicked out of school very young for asking too many
questions), famous inventor of thousands of things, slept unconventional
hours, etc.

-Lisa in AZ

Lisa M. Cottrell Bentley

> Casey wrote to Mary Pope Osborne about her Magic Treehouse series
> when she was 5. She got a nice, signed letter in response fairly
> quickly. It was probably a form letter, but Casey loved it. We still
> have it.

Zoë has written to Mary Pope Osborne THREE times. No response. Two with
regular letters, one in an e-mail. These were all in 2002.

-Lisa in AZ

Krisula Moyer

Definitely mail it. Also, put his name and age in the return address on the
envelope. That will increase the chances of it getting to the "right"
person in the office who likes to deal with kids' letters. It's Hershey -
I'm sure they do get mail from kids pretty regularly and they may even have
a PR protocol for how to respond. You may even address it to the R & D
department. What have you got to lose? -besides the cost of a stamp: )

zenmomma2kids

>>Zoë has written to Mary Pope Osborne THREE times. No response.
Two with regular letters, one in an e-mail. These were all in 2002.>>

I just checked. Casey received a response in the summer of 1999. I
think we just wrote to the publisher's address. Sorry Zoe's having no
luck. :-(

Life is good.
~Mary

Crystal

Erica wrote to Beckett magazine because the title says it is for
Anime collectors and the magazine had more video game stuff than
Anime stuff. She told them she wanted more Anime. They wrote her
back thanking her for the suggestions and said they would try to add
more Anime in the future. She didn't save the letter they sent her!
She got their address in the magazine and did it without any help
from me. She just one day asked for a stamp and I didn't ask her
what she needed it for, so I didn't know she was writing to them.
I'm glad they wrote her back so soon. I do wish that I had a copy of
what she wrote, just to save, you know.

Once when she was about 8 or 9 she wrote to the mayor and asked him
to save the wolves. I guess she heard something about endangered
wolves and she thought the mayor would be the person who could save
them. He never acknowledged her letter and she's still mad at him
for it--lol.

Crystal

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/6/2003 1:44:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, crystal.pina@... writes:

> Once when she was about 8 or 9 she wrote to the mayor

~~~

My son Jon wrote to President Clinton once and asked him for $100. He wrote to several famous people asking for $100, I can't remember who else it was. He got a form letter back from Clinton, but no $100. ;)

Tuck

rarcmartin

I know there have been quite a few answering the same way, but here's one more voice
saying, "By all means mail his letter, and a cover letter by you are him, introducing your
son, briefly, might draw a sympathetic reader."

When our ds15 was 8, he wrote a letter to Gov. Rosello (Puerto Rico). He first
congratulated him on winning the election, then introduced himself, and then decried the
fact that the mangroves where his "papi" (pronounced "poppy"--Spanish class for the day
folks :~) works and where manatees feed, were being cut down. He asked if there was
anything that Gov. Rosello could do to stop it. He also included a photo of himself in the
letter. (Not quite your typical activist inclusion, but a nice touch, regardless.)

He shortly received a very personal letter from the Gov., who commended him on being
concerned, at such a young age, with our environment. He then explained in a manner
that I felt was very respectful, not patronizing, what he knew about the situation here
and wrote that he was forwarding the letter to the head of the Natural and Env. Res.
dept. He then thanked Riali for his congratulations and for the photo, and sent
Christmas wishes to all of us on behalf of him and his wife.

Within a month, Riali then received a letter from the head of the Nat./Env. dept., which
again, was very respectively written. The man briefly explained the history of that
particular project (it was a private project, not gov't) and where it stood at the time
of the letter. (in court)

Needless to say, Riali was thrilled with the personal responses and I think that it gave
him a great sense of just how accessible those in gov't can be, if they so choose.
Unfortunately our mangroves were destroyed, it just seems here that the right pocket
gets lined and then any project whatsoever gets pushed through.


> My dilemma--He wants me to mail it to Hershey today to see if they
> like his "invention". Dh said I could pretend to mail it and then
> write a letter back from "Hershey" saying that even though they
> already have an invention like that, that he's a good inventor and he
> should keep inventing things. I don't know though, that seems
> deceptive. Some day he'll realize that's what I did and that might
> hurt him.
>
> Any ideas? Do I mail it to Hershey like he asked?
>
> Sheila