Miss Manners: Why do they text me these boring pictures?

Plus: She told me my son's thank-you notes make her feel bad and he should stop.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there a nice response to let someone know that you don’t want pictures of what the weather is doing half an hour away from you?

The pictures I’m getting are through text, and I just don’t understand the reason people send them. The weather doesn’t interest me a whole lot, so when people start talking about it, I get bored and almost completely zone it out. I feel like that’s ruder than telling someone not to send you pictures of the weather.

Is there a polite way to inform someone that I don’t really care?

GENTLE READER: Whoever thought of putting cameras into telephones probably had no idea how much boredom would thus be thrust upon the world. We all owe a debt to whomever added the easy delete function.

An in-person comment about the weather does deserve a minimal response, such as “Yes, it sure is (hot, cold, windy, whatever).” Miss Manners assures you that a texted picture does not.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am in my mid-30s with a young child. I have taught him to send thank-you cards for all birthday gifts. There is perhaps one other child in his grade who does that.

I take no offense when I don’t receive a thank-you for a gift. I understand thank-you notes are not common, and I know what we give is still enjoyed and appreciated.

Lately, however, more than one family has expressed that it makes them feel bad (guilty, maybe?) to receive my son’s notes. One friend and fellow mom actually asked me not to send them.

I am not sure what to do. If I were the recipient of the gift and my friend made that request, I probably would skip the thank-you. But my son is young and I’m not sure it sends a good message to tell him we are crossing a good friend’s name off the list of cards we will write.

Is it possible for a nice custom to actually become so uncommon that it is offensive?

GENTLE READER: Have you thought about what, exactly, offends these parents?

It is not that your child enjoys the present and is grateful to receive it, which is what a letter of thanks states. It is that his good manners show them up for not requiring their children to be equally polite.

Of course, Miss Manners understands that you do not want to sabotage his social education for etiquette delinquents. With any luck, he will grow up to mix with a more civilized crowd.

Even now, these parents are not the nominal givers of those birthday presents — their children are. So your son can be told to slip them the letters either by hand or via text, as children old enough to write may have access to tablets. (Miss Manners will leave it to you to explain that handwritten letters are still the standard, although texting might be expedient in some cases. Sorry.)

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.