<p>I’ve noticed a sharp drop-off in Christmas cards this year. We received about five, three with the printed letters. We got a big kick out of the letter from my husband’s aunt. she described each of her grandchildren as straight A students, apparently the fundamentalist homeschool has some grade inflation issues. Then there are the letters from a pair of sisters, one married well and enjoys a life of international travel and secure affluence, the other sent a real downer of a letter about her husband being unemployed. I do love receiving them but I think Christmas cards will soon be a thing of the past.</p>
<p>We get one or two great ones each year that I really do look forward to reading, but I don’t send them myself. I just think it would be too difficult for me to send a mass produced letter appropriate to everyone who would be receiving it. People who are close to me already know my news (and talking about the highlights of our respective kids’ activities and accomplishments is actively encouraged between us!) but for those I don’t talk to as frequently, I guess I’d rather catch up with an interactive phone call and be in a better position to judge what may or may not be appropriate to share. For example, I’m not going to want to talk about my travels with someone whose H has just been laid off from work and I’m not going to go on and on about my kids with friends who never had any of their own - unless they ask. And in some cases, I’d rather focus on the other person altogether. I just don’t think these letters can be all things to all people and that as such they sometimes miss fulfilling their intended purpose. </p>
<p>I do love getting updated family photos this time of year, and agree that the preprinted cards are too impersonal. </p>
<p>[Beware</a> the incredible expanding holiday letter - Los Angeles Times](<a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/21/nation/na-letters21]Beware”>Beware the incredible expanding holiday letter)</p>
<p>I love them!! Even though we don’t hear from some of these friends during the year, we still care about them and are very interested in their lives. I was heartbroken to hear in a Christmas letter I received today that one of our old friends had colon cancer this year. How he and his young family must have struggled and we didn’t even know it! It made me realize I’ve got to take more initiative in getting in touch with old friends during the year. I hope everyone of our friends send us one!</p>
<p>I even like getting the ones from folks we see all the time - sometimes it gives us insight into things we didn’t know about our friends, or accomplishments we’re glad to hear about, but haven’t, or just lets us share their joy!</p>
<p>I also love getting lengthy holiday letters, and I’ve been sending them out for years. Most years my husband and I write short personal notes on many cards; this year my daughter was in charge of the folding, stuffing and stamping while she temped in his office, and we forgot the personal notes. Oh well, people will have to deal. </p>
<p>All the pictures I get of kids and families I put in my photo albums. I keep the letters. </p>
<p>The last couple years I’ve been lazy and instead of writing a letter, have gone with a bunch of photos with captions. I included a picture of me as a volunteer at an Obama rally – I couldn’t care less if someone on my list is Republican. </p>
<p>I’ve also noticed fewer cards this year, and wonder if people are saving money by cutting back. I used to make custom folded holiday cards using a photo I took, but have saved money the last 2 years by doing the flat photo cards.</p>
<p>How do the letters with multiple choice questions work? I do need to do something different next year.</p>
<p>I like them. I don’t give a damn how many goals their daughter scored in summer-league travel soccer, but in general I like them. For good or bad they provide some insight into the family, or at least the writer.</p>
<p>And I like them even better when accompanied by photos. We had a neighbor who used to cover one or even two pages with xeroxed photos of family and events. Always looked forward to that one.</p>
<p>What do ya’ll think of going green and switching to an email letter with photos? I am tempted, but it feels a bit ‘shifty’</p>
<p>I sent a number of my letters by email this year- especially ones to my business friends. I sent hard copies w/card (or without in some cases) to people I know will want to have the letter to show others or who don’t enjoy email/printing as much. Those who I know are computer savvy I didn’t hesitate to only send an email copy. I think it is perfectly acceptable today. Many of the business holiday greetings I received were by email, and the business gifts (food etc) were greatly reduced.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know that from a “green” standpoint (both financially and environmentally) email cards are the way to go. But getting Christmas cards is one of the things I love most about the holidays, and it just isn’t the same when they don’t come in the mail and you don’t get that tactile satisfaction of opening an envelope.</p>
<p>There are a lot of people – relatives, classmates, former co-workers and neighbors – who were an important part of our lives who now live far away. We don’t see or hear from them often, but we still care about them and love getting a new photo of the kids and hearing how they are doing. A personal note is terrific, but we’ll take what we can get. One friend always writes a terrific Christmas letter in which a paragraph is a short, humorous synopsis of what’s going on in their lives, and the second paragraph is customized to focus on stuff specifically related to us, mutual friends, and topics of mutual interest. It’s a letter I especially look forward to receiving each year – although I love all the Christmas letters and photos we receive.</p>
<p>
Here’s an example I found on the web. Someone once sent me one without the answers - although some of the multiple choices were easy to rule out since you cannot break the laws of physics.
[Christmas</a> Letter 2002](<a href=“http://www.barrywaite.org/xmas/christmas_letter_2002.htm]Christmas”>http://www.barrywaite.org/xmas/christmas_letter_2002.htm)</p>
<p>I finally got a letter this week. Mom wrote bullet points for each family member. She’s good about making some of it self-deprecating. Really makes me want to do a letter … some year.</p>
<p>I just got a letter from a former neighbor who has been good enough to keep us up to date. Good grief - her kid (the one we used to watch play on the driveway) is playing for the Globetrotters! Wow, what a fun thing we would have missed if Mom hadn’t kept up to date (PM me if you want to know about this cool kid)<br>
Your circle of news may extend beyond what you know…</p>
<p>At the first of the season I thought there was a sharp drop off in cards and letters, but it seems that everyone was just late (like me!). I admit that I did take about 8 people off the list - when you send a letter to folks for a decade or so and they never send you a card, I guess it’s time to take the hint!</p>
<p>I love the newsletters, too, and used to do them myself - but when it seemed as if I was the only one doing so, I scaled back. Now I do write a few paragraphs in each card - more time-consuming, but I like the personal touch. I’m married to one of those “sign our names and we’re done” card-senders, and it drives me crazy.</p>
<p>I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing from those old friends from whom I hear once a year (old high school and college friends mostly.) My only problem is, when do you drop some one from your list? Two years? Five years? I always wind up saying “one more year”… and then I cave the following year, too.</p>
<p>I know the printed Christmas newsletter doesn’t seem as personal, but I found that when I was writing in cards, I was essentially putting the same information in each card and then just a little personal greeting to the card recipient at the end. Now I put the bulk of our yearly information in the newsletter and save a space at the bottom to write the personal message.</p>
<p>My handwriting gets worse every year and it happens to others, too. I’d actually hate to have to read a page long handwritten letter!</p>
<p>I agree about the handwriting. Mine is so bad it’s almost unreadable. Plus, my forearm cramps up pretty fast (probably contributes to the unreadableness.) Thus, I found myself writing less and less. I, like Scout, now put the news in the letter, then write a short personal note to add on. The alternative was getting close to signture and nothing else.</p>
<p>I LOVE getting letters! I used to send a letter every other year. Last year I did a photo card using iPhoto on my Mac, it had 4 large pictures on the front and a bunch of small pictures inside. I figured a picture was worth 1000 words, but later I realized that the inside pictures were too small to see. This year I did another picture card, 3 photos on the front and one inside. Guess I’m overdue to write a letter. Last year I actually had things to write about, with DS graduating from hs, etc. Next year I will hopefully get off my lazy butt and write a short one to go with my photo card.</p>