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For me? It’s a definite no.

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I recently commented on a blog friend’s post about my dislike of the ever popular photo Christmas card. After voicing my opinion, I was asked “Are you… Scrooge?” To which I answer most emphatically… no! 

But for me… the joy of the annual Christmas card exchange is knowing that someone far away, someone I may not have seen for 15 years, someone I don’t communicate with on a regular basis, took the time to sit down and think of me. To actually pick up a pen and jot down a message of holiday cheer…. in good old fashioned ink. In the virtual, digital, and (don’t get me wrong I love my tech) impersonal world in which we live? That still means something.

So when I get cards like this –

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They leave me cold. Want to include a family photo in your card? Great, I’d love to see you and your hoard of grandchildren. But not like this –

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Where I have absolutely no idea who’s who or from which loins they sprung.

Nope. You have to do more than format some photos online and stick it in an envelope with no handwritten signature or bon mots for me to feel that merry tingle.

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Old fashioned? Probably. But then I still send handwritten thank you notes like my momma taught me.

And if I’m the only one who feels this way? So be it. You do you, I’ll do me. My cards and envelopes always have been… and always will be… hand written. And if you’re lucky enough to make the cut on my ever dwindling Christmas card list (deadbeats who haven’t reciprocated in 5 years are history) you won’t get a typewritten letter detailing the mind numbing minutia of my life in the past year. (Do not get me started on those! I neither need, nor want to know the results of your step son’s colonoscopy or how great aunt Edna is dealing with those pesky cysts.) But you will get a few words from someone who thought enough of you to take the time to put pen to paper.

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*Disclaimer – the post to which I refer is this one by Swinged Cat.

And while my dislike of photo cards stands, I’d like to give him a shout out for at least going the extra mile and doing something humorous.

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33 thoughts on “For me? It’s a definite no.”

  2. While I generally don’t send handwritten missives because my handwriting is unreadable I do believe in at least personalizing the individual cards in some way. Although usually all it takes is a signature. My handwriting is so terrible I never sign my name the same way twice.

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  3. … lessee … cost of card $1.50 – $3.00 each. 55¢ to mail it ..
    Number of people I would care to update … around ten or twelve
    Effort it would take to be nice/funny/creative in a comment – hours.
    So a round of Christmas cards is around $30 to $50 and a whole day wasted trying to be like … personal … or something.
    Do I have any friends who are worth $50 a year? Mmmm. Decisions …

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  4. I’m totally with you River, isn’t it wonderful to get a hand written Christmas card from someone in the holiday spirit? I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. Although this year I dropped the ball and didn’t send any, I’ve been busy with my new job. Yes, I know that’s not an excuse, but I’ve already stocked up for next year. And I’d love to send you one, so if it’s okay with you, send me an email with your info and you’ll be on my Christmas card list, no photos I promise, okay maybe of Charlie but that’s it, lol.

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  5. Yeah, not a fan of getting a card with someone else’s family on it. Call me Scrooge, I don’t care. An acquaintance sent me a card this year of his children whom I’ve never met. I don’t want to see people on a card I don’t know or care about. Okay, glad that I’ve gotten that off my chest!

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  6. The ONLY ones who get a handwritten, snail-mail card from me at Christmas time are those who send me a carrot cake sometime in the past year–so you know what you have to do and if you don’t STOP COMPLAINING!!

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  7. Thank you for the props, even if we do differ on the topic! I am clearly a product of my environment on this issue, since my parents sent out photo cards even before I was born and still do to this day.

    We definitely agree on the deadbeats!

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  8. I hand write my cards, and include a little Christmas letter (also signed by hand). Not a fan of impersonal cards or humble-brag Christmas missives (and I think you know exactly what I mean when I say that). Thankfully, I have only ever received one of the latter and those people were immediately scratched off my list.

    Deb

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    1. Agreed. Though some of them are comical for what they consider brag worthy. “Little Jenny made parole!” might be cause for celebration for some, worthy of a cringe for others.
      😉

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  10. I’m with you on this one….but, as for the deadbeats, some of them may be just plain dead. Personally, I think that’s a pretty good excuse for not sending you a Christmas card, but if you disagree, you’re definitely entitled to your own opinion.

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    1. If I sent you a card last year? The only excuse I’m accepting for you not sending me one this year is death. And by death I mean burial or cremation…. because my husband has a few brain dead people on the list as well.

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  12. It is interesting what those family photos can reveal of relatives and friends. I miss them but acknowledge that since we do not contribute this kind of cheer each year, just like living in a gated community, we are excluded or maybe they are being something of the past.

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  13. There’s a lot of people that can’t stand their own family, why would they want pictures of someone else’s? I do think the practice of letter writing needs revival though, think of old style love letters and the like. There’s a nostalgia and something special about holding something in your hand when the person you love has gone – their hands have touched the paper your tears may currently be falling upon – e-mail just doesn’t have the same vibe.

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  14. I used to get those from my cousin. She’d also include a letter detailing their year and their perfect life. I am terrible about remembering or sending cards, so I just don’t do it. Now that my parents are gone, there’s nobody in my extended family that gives a crap about me, so… 🤷‍♀️

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    1. A photo card, and a typed letter? That’s serious overkill. When cards become a chore… I’ll quit sending them. And don’t feel bad, out of my husband’s 7 surviving siblings? One card, one text. Lame indeed.

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      1. She takes after her dad. He used to type up a family newsletter every year to send out around Christmas. My aunt took it over after he developed dementia. It’s a little obnoxious.

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  15. Sending Christmas cards with family photos is the ultimate in ego. These cards are not made for the recipients, they are made for the senders, especially in an era where they have Facebook photos, Snapchat photos, Instagram photos….why are you sending me a card with something I can find, on a daily basis and in quantities that reach ad nauseum,, all over social media?

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