Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas Cards

They arrived this weekend and our sitting on the desk waiting to be attended. There are over 100 of them and our smiling faces are anxious to make their destination. "They" are our annual picture Christmas cards. Each year we take a picture, this year several, and upload it to the photo store which in turn sends us our faces with a Christmas greeting. Some say this custom is out-dated and expensive, but this is yet another tradition that I hold dear and would not think about ending.
As is evident I embrace technology, live a rather candid life online, and prefer email and Facebook far more than the phone when it comes to daily communication. However, I feel sending an actual card in an envelope with a Christmas stamp affixed to it is a beautiful way to wish our friends and family a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy Holiday Season. I am enthralled each and every time I go to my mailbox in December and find a new batch of Christmas cards waiting for me to open. I am delighted when some of those cards include a quick note in a written hand and entertained when a Christmas letter is enclosed. When my list consisted of less than 30 people I used to hand write my greetings with a note, different for each person. A couple of times, after the birth of my first two children, I attempted, with positive results, a one page Christmas letter. In recent years I'm sad to report that our mailings have simply been the photo card with the stamped closing and no personalized touch. This year, with my renewed vigor in writing I hope to craft another Christmas letter that will be funny, informative, and not nauseating!
Life has become so fast-paced, impersonal, and hurried. Although it is a novelty to received a "virtual Christmas card" or a quick email greeting for the holidays, I still ache to see my Christmas card basket fill up as December draws to a close. I want to see my friends' kids in their holiday finery, read about their vacations, and know that, if even for just a few moments, they thought about me and my family and found us worthy of the greeting.
So, a poll. Do you send Christmas cards? Do you do the boxed cards, pick out individual cards at the card store, or do photo cards? Do you include a hand written note? A Christmas letter? Do you enjoy receiving Christmas cards this time of year or do you think this tradition is corny and wasteful? Let me know what you think. In the meantime, I'm getting to work on my Christmas letter!

6 comments:

  1. I love getting Photo Christmas cards!

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  2. I make a list of 20 or so nearest and dearest and print a card for the occasion, though this year I seem to have left it late already. I have a box of Charity cards for unexpected visitors but I rarely need it. Of late I have managed to scrape a you tube animation together for everyone else.

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  3. We usually do the photo cards. The front of the card is usually part of our decorations. The wreath, candles, the tree, or a well composed part of the tree. The photo of the kids is always separate (not everyone gets a photo either). No personal note, since the inside greeting is usually composed by Stephen and I.

    I've done handmade stamp and paper cards. We've done boxed cards. Always saying, Merry Christmas and a scripture.

    While I would be perfectly fine sending out 1,000 cards, my husband does the, "Well, did we get one from them last year?" thing. Since then, I've noticed less and less cards in the mail. :( I too love getting Christmas cards in the mail. So far, this year, we have ONE! A photo card. :)

    I am not a big fan of the Christmas letter. I have done a couple, and maybe one this year since it has been awhile... I don't know. (I should probably decide huh?) There are some that I look forward to reading. However, there are a few where it just seems like a long, obnoxious brag fest that is rife with arrogance and an "in your face", "look what MY kids did" and "look at the super Herculean things that I did" and "look at everything MY husband accomplished this year"--- with the condescending undertone of "WHAT did YOU do in the last 12 months?!" Makes me sick and dampers the entire card and letter process. I know without a shadow of a doubt this type of letter is going to be in the envelope and generally don't waste my time reading it.

    We still haven't taken our photos yet. So, IF we do cards this year, they will most likely be late- AGAIN.

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  4. Hi Chief187,

    I generally send a store bought christmas card and I hand write a greeting on each card. On some individual cards I might add a few extra paragraphs about my year be I take that on a case by case basis.

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  5. I send very few cards and do enjoy recieving them. Its nice people think about you during the holidays.

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  6. I used to create my own Christmas card every year. With a busy work schedule and daughter, that's slowly become more generic, although I still try to put a personal touch to the design in some way. This year we'll be sending out simple photo cards, and I'm designing a nice label for the envelope. One constant is that I make an ambitious list and end up sending out half. ...We'll see how it goes this year!

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