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Ground Hogs Day, Christmas Version

So I calculated that this is the 5th Christmas that I’ve been blogging.  Yah, I really can count that high!

After 5 years, I’ve done all the memes, I’ve talked about our family Christmas traditions, we’ve discussed Christmas tipping and what to give the teachers and care givers in our lives and whether or not to send the Christmas Form Letter. Gosh, that was a hot button issue if I ever saw one. I was trying to be funny, but people DO take that issue seriously, phew!

Heck, even my Christmas decorations are so similar to past years it seems silly to participate in the Tour of Homes.

I’m having this same debate about writing a Christmas letter this year.  If I sit down and write one, it will probably sound much like it has the past four years.  It’s not that I don’t love my life; it’s just that it’s pretty predictable these days, which I count a blessing to be sure, but it doesn’t exactly make for an entertaining end-of-year update.

Speaking of the Christmas letter, have you noticed that fewer and fewer people are doing Christmas cards with each passing year?  I think we’ve received a paltry five so far.  I suppose it makes sense, with this digital age keeping us in touch with people so easily.  But I love getting Christmas cards and pictures and letters in the mail.  Let’s face it, this is the ONLY time of year when you can go to your mailbox and be guaranteed some form of personal correspondence.  The rest of the year, most of the mail is just food for the paper shredder.

I’ve seen some friends opting for donating their Christmas card and postage money to charity this year, and while I like that idea, I can’t quite give up the tradition.  Of course, I haven’t sent mine yet, and usually I get mine out much earlier.  I’m still waiting for them to arrive from Shutterfly.  So perhaps the giving will spark some getting.

How about you?  Do you send Christmas cards, or are you opting for a digital version?  Are you running late this year?  Do you include a “form letter?”  What about a photo?  Yay or nay?  Kids or the whole family?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

Join The Conversation

42 Responses

  1. I also enjoy getting Christmas cards in the mail and agree that each year seems to bring fewer and fewer. We had a family picture done at Portrait Innovations, so I had them make our Christmas cards there. I got most of them mailed out last week and am hoping to find some from friends and family in my mailbox this week!

  2. I love getting Christmas cards. Could usually do without the Christmas brag letters.

    I sent out a ton this year because I was able to get them for free from Shutterfly. I would love to have a whole-family picture, but my husband HATES getting his picture taken. We did Libbie’s picture on the front and then pictures from throughout the year on the inside, including one that had me in it. Mostly Libbie. 🙂

  3. This is actually the first year I’ve noticed a sharp decline. We didn’t even receive our first card until this week, when typically the mailbox starts filling up shortly after Thanksgiving. I still love to send one, though. I do photo cards, which used to just be a funny picture of Larry the dog, but now he’s second fiddle to the Princess. 😉 He still gets on the card, just not as prominently.

    As for a letter, I stopped doing that a while ago because everybody already knows my business thanks to Facebook. And this year, I was a horrible friend and didn’t even SIGN the cards. I just threw them in the envelope, slapped the labels on and said, “HO HO HO.”

  4. I love cards. Of all sorts. Up until this fall I had saved every card we had since 1977. Last Christmas my husband and I spent one evening going thru all of the cards and remembering each person,family,good times. It was such a sweet night. This fall when I decided to purge my house I got rid of the cards and only saved a precious few (I am sooo regretting that choice now.) I told myself we would rebuild our collection, but reality is that will not happen because people don’t send cards like they used to. Oh well, purging is sometimes a painful, learning process, I suppose!

    I didn’t send any this year myself, shame on me

  5. I have sent my cards out, but only received about 6 in the mail. We do photo cards with just the children’s picture (my husband’s choice, I would prefer a family pic).
    I used to do a letter, but have not for several years. I did include a short note with our e-mail address and a website to check out regarding holiday donations. Thanks for this post!
    Personally, I like receiving the mail. I don’t like to receive them digitally.

  6. I opted not to do christmas cards for the first time this year. I’ve been really sick and decided that is one thing i could feel less stressed about. Plus, I figure everyone sees pictures and updates on facebooks (excpet the very few people in my family who aren’t on facebook) I will definetly do it next year and I love to get them in the mail from others! Toni

  7. I am not so patiently waiting for my Christmas cards to arrive in the mail so I can turn send them right back out. I love to send cards and even *gasp* real snail mail. There is something about opening the mail box and seeing a letter or card to you and the family that just makes a day go better.

    I did scale back this year on the amount of cards actually being sent via mail. It is just so expensive now days what with stamps almost .50 a piece. For my measly 50 cards I will pay a measly $25 to send them off! No wonder people don’t send them as much as they used to.

  8. I’m still sending cards even though I’m connected with family on Facebook. I love designing the cards, though this year, the design was half-hearted. I had fewer photos to choose from, and no good ones of my five kids together. And, no time to get them together and create a good photo.

    However, my friend who has 4 kids created a great card using individual pictures of the kids. I’m stealing the idea for next year!

    I love getting cards in the mail, especially photo ones, but it does seem like we’re getting fewer cards this year.

  9. I am very sad about the decline in christmas cards. I am sending nice paper cards, handwritten messages, and no photos of the kids. Time for some return to tradition.

  10. We did the Christmas card this year, as I *try* to do every year. I have also noticed that the number is dropping. Either our mail person is jacking around with our mail, or people no longer love me, since I’ve only received two, that’s right, TWO, Christmas cards this year. Bah humbug! 🙂

  11. This is my first year doing Christmas cards, but a;so only our second Christmas in our own house. We did photo cards, with a photo of our whole family and one each for our two girls… as for the Christmas letter… I decided against it!

  12. I’m sending Christmas cards… You should be getting it next week (hopefully!). 🙂 I agree with you though. I have only received about 5 cards this year. Maybe no one knows where to find us…

  13. I have a dismal reputation among my friends and family with follow through on “real” Christmas cards. I’ve gone through the whole picture taking, designing, ordering, receiving and then sometime around Feb. they get a Christmas/Valentine’s card. Dismal. So this year when a friend sent me a Smilebox card, I thought, why not? Within two hours I’d covered most of my posse. And it was a true treat to almost immediately receive feedback via Smilebox about the card. I know it’s a step away from the experiential touch of crisp paper and gold foil, but this year it worked for us.

    1. Hey, it is TOTALLY the thought that counts, and I will take Christmas greetings in any way shape or form. (I have not received any digital cards.) I have a friend who used to always send Groundhogs Day cards (ironic, given the title of this post, yes?) Cracks me up. They are notoriously late every year and finally gave up and started calling them Groundhogs Day Cards. Heh.

  14. I mailed mine yesterday. We are all on the card, but it is a photo collage, so no picture of all 8 (!) of us. Husband writes a letter every year. I think they can sound braggy and a little boring, but he likes doing it and he does manage to make them pretty funny. I love getting cards. We have a bulletin board in our kitchen and I put all the pictures we receive on it and leave them up the whole year until we start getting new ones the next year. We put the cards that fold over our blinds in the kitchen. It makes me happy to get real mail that is personal. 😉

    1. I like the ones that are fun. The ones that list their accomplishments and vacations in the standard formula get old, but then again, that’s probably what mind sound like. Bah. I’ve decided to go old school this year, and I’m hand writing notes on the backs of my cards. Booyah! 🙂

  15. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards and we too have been receiving fewer each year. We do a family picture – taken at home with the camera on a tripod and a timer and all of us running into position … it’s fun and taking the picture has become one of our holiday traditions. I wish more people would include themselves in the pictures instead of just the kids. I never included a Christmas letter, but I like reading the ones we get from others.

  16. We just recently sent out our cards, this close to Christmas.
    I hope everyone gets theirs before Christmas.
    Although it seems kinda redundant since we sent everyone the same type of card.
    Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

  17. I’m very pro-Christmas cards! I made a photo card for the first time this year and then attached my usual Highlights list. Everyone seems to like the Highlights because it’s short, sweet, and to the point. It gives them a good idea of what’s been going on for me this past year. I do think I’ve received less than usual this year but there’s still time! It seems like the excuse is more about being so/too busy than cost.

  18. We send a Christmas photo card & a letter. We send the letter (this year it’s taking the form of a top 10) mainly b/c we’re an Army family and there are people (literally) around the world that support us, pray for us regularly, and use our card/letter as the chance to say “Oooohhhh, that’s where they are now,” 🙂

    1. Oh & this year it is just the kiddos in the picture. AND… the 12 days of Christmas don’t start until AFTER December 25th so… if any of y’all send yours a little “late,” not to worry – you have until Epiphany (January 6th)& then the Christmas “season” (according to the church) is over. 🙂

  19. I love photo Christmas cards but I also love a great non-photo card,too. We’re sending photo cards again this year. I am planning to send them this weekend (watch your mailbox). I do love the Christmas letters, although the only one I got this year was very depressing-basically a list of everyone they know that has died in the past year-a great way to say Merry Christmas. I always think about writing a funny letter but then run out of time. There’s always next year:-)
    On a funny note, my favorite card (so far) this year is a photo card from our lawn guy. He’s in his uniform and does not seem too happy that the company required they send photo Christmas cards. Its hysterical and makes me smile every time I walk by it…yes, I hung it up.

  20. As a stationer, I’m always in favor of sending cards–photo or no photo–I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor. I’m a firm believer in the ministry of cards year-round, but most especially at Christmas. I like to try to think of a few people each year who would be particularly glad to receive a real card (lonely relatives, widows, young single friends, former teachers, etc.), and that makes the arduous process of creating, addressing and stamping them a little more purposeful. Long live the card-sending tradition! 🙂

  21. I love Christmas cards. I sent out a photo card (created on Shutterfly) with one picture of the whole family and two pictures of just my daughter. I love seeing everyone’s photos, even if I see plenty of pictures on FB, etc.

  22. I LOVE receiving Christmas cards, but I’m not sending them out this year. It’s mostly because we never really got around to it, but it also about simplifying my Christmas To Do list. I do still feel a little guilty that we’re not doing it, yet relieved that it is one less thing I need to take care of! 🙂 I haven’t been blogging quite as long as you, but I do know what you mean about Christmas seeming like blogging Groundhog Day. There’s really just not much else to say about some of our Christmas traditions, and I’m certainly NOT one of those people who changes my Christmas decorations out every year!

  23. I really enjoy the whole process of sending Christmas cards. I love designing the cards and writing the personal messages! I don’t do the Christmas letter. We usually get a good laugh out of those letters anyway.

    Yup! I have noticed a decline in Christmas cards this year! I have received five so far. It really is the one time of year where there is a good possibility that I will actually get some fun mail.

    In 2011, I am really going to make it a priority to write letters to my family and friends.

  24. A few years ago, we started sending Valentine cards instead of Christmas ones. It gives me one less thing to do during the holidays, and people really enjoy the nice surprise in February!

  25. I send out cards every year and I LOVE receiving them. And I agree that it seems like I’m not getting as many. I tape them to the door leading to the garage so we can look at them every day and even my husband remarked that we didn’t seem to have very many this year.

  26. I love the idea of Christmas cards, but never actually get around to it LOL I actually don’t mind the form letter so long as it’s not ten pages long! I just ran across a Christmas card that included a picture and a list of the top ten happenings that year – I though that was a classy alternative to a form letter!

  27. Before I had kids I would send out over 100 handmade cards, each one different. Then when I married my hubby, I started making cards for him to send to his customers (he is self-employed), I design a different card to make each year. This year I made 120 of the same card….boring! Because I spend so much time doing his cards, we usually don’t even do cards for friends and family! I know…that’s bad, right??

  28. I love Christmas cards. Everyone has their own preference but I like traditional cards best. Honestly, sometimes I think it’s a little weird that Christmas cards have turned into photo ops. I display the cards I receive each year and sometimes it’s kind of strange to see all of these pictures of other peoples kids and very few manger scenes or doves, or traditional Christmas “scenes,” you know? Having said that…I feel mean and Scrooge-y! I’m actually thrilled to receive any cards. It’s one of my favorite things about Christmas.

    1. You know what? I feel that way every year when I start addressing my Christmas cards. It IS a bit weird. I used to have so much fun picking out a Christmas card that I loved. I always try to pick out a more “religious” photo card, something that at least claims Christ in some way, but the ones with multiple photos were all secular at Shutterfly, where I had my store credit, so I went with that.

  29. I ordered 20 less cards this year ….then had to go back to the printers for more.

    I love making our photocards in Photoshop and did a recent post where I shared the last 4 years of cards …. Lovely to see the kids growing up through the years 🙂

    Do you do a photo card? Or “normal” card with a photo on your letter? Or no photo at all? Would love to know!

    1. Yes, I do a photo card every year. I just love them, even though I do kind of miss Christmas cards too. And I like going back through them too. I should do a post of that!!

  30. We send out annual photo cards – typically right around the New Year. I like the multi-photo card designs best so that we can include a family shot, plus a few individual shots. 🙂

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