<p>This year, for the first time, we are going to produce a “Christmas Letter” for all the people who send them to us. I am at a loss as to how to write this. We exchange hand written letters with close friends, but we do enjoy hearing about the lives of acquaintances. I’ve decided to leave out any mention of surgeries or other unpleasant events and focus on the highlights; perhaps college visits & other travel. Has Facebook made the annual letter obsolete, or do people still enjoy these?</p>
<p>I get several of these, mostly from friends who live far away. I admit that I enjoy reading them. My favorite one is from a family who writes the letter in a newspaper style with each person writing 1 or 2 “stories”. I don’t know if it’s the style I enjoy so much or the fact that it is very, very funny.</p>
<p>Judging by a recent thread, opinion seems to be very divided, so I say send one if you want to. Keep it humorous.</p>
<p>I’ve been writing one for nearly 20 years. I focus on my audience-there are a couple of older relatives of my parents’ generation and friends at great distances who I keep in mind. I include things they would want to hear about.
Some years I arrange by person, youngest to oldest; the next year I might flip it. Sometimes I’ll put a few paragraphs together chronologically, one year I created a multi-stanza poem. There is always humor, but I might allude to things that have stressed us as well.
It is never longer than a page and printed on decorative paper in a readable font, so it ends up between 15-20 sentences.
This years news included info on the last college graduation, my mom’s passing and the son’s engagement announcement. I usually include a family photo, if I can get everyone together.</p>
<p>Somehow I missed the previous holiday card thread, lots of good suggestions there. The consensus on the letter seems to be to keep it funny and avoid creating a “brag sheet”. I like the newspaper style, keeps it informational with an impartial voice. Got to get busy…</p>
<p>“Junior’s Probation ends in May. We really hope he can stay out of jail in 2012. If so it would be the first time in nearly a decade. I really feel badly for him, being a defendant in all those lawsuits. The sheriff took his pick up to pay off one judgment. Can you believe it? How is he supposed to get to work?”</p>
<p>Before you start writing, please decide who you’re writing the letter for. One-third of the Christmas family letters we get are newsy and humorous, and they generally contain a candid picture or two. The remaining two-thirds were obviously written with NO consideration for the reader … at all.</p>
<p>I got two this year. One via snail mail from friends in Hawaii. they send a great letter every year, not humorous, with a calendar from HI. I look forward to the letter. The second came via email from a local family. I always cringe at their letter. It is humorous but the jokes are at the expense of the other family members. there is always a mention of how the Mom can’t cook. I prefer no humor over that type of letter.</p>
<p>We get quite a lot of these. Different styles include: straight-up family news; we-went-on-a-trip with photography; black humor; highlights month-by-month.</p>
<p>I write one some years. I always start with the photographs I want to use, three or four of them, and aim for two pages (one sheet, both sides) max. If you print two-sided, make the effort to buy slightly heavier paper (24-lb instead of 20). Use wide margins for readability, and at least 12-point type. Avoid fancy typefaces.</p>
<p>By starting with the photos, they can set the agenda for what I want to say. I haven’t written this year’s yet, but if we do send one, I’ll start with a photo of the new puppy ;-)</p>
<p>We’ve sent letters of many types over the years. One was newspaper article style, a few in the style of a Christmas Carol, some just a quick update with a common theme for everyone in the family (example: favorite activity of the year). My favorite ones were the years when each of my 4 children was in 6th grade. They all had a writing assignment to write a holiday newsletter from the perspective of the family pet. We used those as our family letters.</p>
<p>I love getting the family newsletters. I only reliably get two a year, but I do treasure them. One is written by a professional journalist so it’s quite readable.</p>
<p>One thing: I wouldn’t totally avoid all unpleasantries. If there was a death in the family or something, I would think that would merit a mention in the letter! But, yeah, I don’t need the details of a surgery, for instance. ;)</p>
<p>I like the ones that are 'real" as the one above. sometimes people take this as an opportunity to brag, there is a way to share happy news without being obnoxious.</p>
<p>I have done a Christmas letter every year since DS1 was born in 1987. My format is the same: each member of our family writes a paragraph summarizing their year (4 kids now–I used to write what they said about themselves, now they mostly do their own), then a short listing of vacations–we take 2 or so a year, and best wishes to everyone for the new year. I am also a snow fanatic, like winter, snowblowing the driveway, so I always end with a YTD snow report which is almost always NOT ENOUGH!! I include the good with the not so good, though focus is usually good.</p>
<p>This year’s will be late–DD2012 had arthroscopic hip surgery Thursday, DS2005 arrives Friday, and I haven’t started addressing the cards. I also do a photo card each year. I love receiving other cards, photos and letters. Keeps me in contact with people from many years of our life.</p>
<p>Hint - If you do Christmas letters (we do)… keep some printouts for yourself. It works great to file it with the year’s photo album. (I don’t do many photo albums, but I keep three copies of each year’s letter/photos - the two kids will get album as wedding present).</p>
<p>I have written fake ones–ie, with all sorts of crazy lies, or in cartoon form, etc. They went over well.</p>
<p>We get quite a few of these, and I have to admit, with one exception, I hate reading them. They are all much too long, for one thing. The one exception is a family that always writes a really funny, entertaining letter.</p>
<p>in re post 11:
Part of the trouble with “I like the ones that are 'real” as the one above. sometimes people take this as an opportunity to brag, there is a way to share happy news without being obnoxious. " is that some people send such a letter of accomplishments and try to view it as a personal holiday greeting. Odd as it sounds, I’m not kidding. Some people really do think that way. Although I do think it’s a good idea to send them only to those who have sent theirs first.</p>
<p>Waiting until Dec to share “happy news” that may have occurred in June, for example, is suspect.</p>
<p>momsquad can read: tis the season"- let’s talk about HOLIDAY CARDS</p>
<p>I enjoy hearing all the happy news and successes of my friends, neighbors and relatives. Why some people are offended by this as “bragging” is beyond me. I would much rather hear about a job promotion, college graduation or award than a depressing list of surgeries, failures and deaths. A holiday letter is supposed to spread good cheer, so keep it light hearted and happy.</p>
<p>“They are all much too long, for one thing.” - For goodness sake, just skim them if you don’t like long letters. (Few people read their whole newspaper… they just skim for the parts they find interesting.) Or do the option that I give in the first paragraph of ours…flip to page 2 for the photos overview. </p>
<p>I have an aunt that is probably eagerly awaiting our late letter. She emails me about her “delight in every delicious word”. I know she is not joking - she really does enjoy the old fashioned snailmail, even though most of the year she corresponds via email.</p>
<p>
I don’t read them at all–which is my point. If you want people to read them, don’t make them too long. I get some that are both sides of the page, dense text, with a lengthy block paragraph for each month of the year.</p>
<p>“I enjoy hearing all the happy news and successes of my friends, neighbors and relatives. Why some people are offended by this as “bragging” is beyond me.”</p>
<p>OK, I’ll bite. Here’s a faithful summary of an ENTIRE letter we received last week:</p>
<p>Dear Friends and Relatives,
In March we travelled to Florida and had a wonderful time. In April we travelled to Minneapolis, and had such a wonderful time that we went back in July AND in August! In September we traveled to St. Louis. In October we went to Italy for two weeks. In November we travelled to Indianapolis. In December we will travel to Florida for most of the month. This Christmas, please accept our fervent wish that every cup overfloweth with blessings rich and eternal.</p>
<p>NewHope: it’s not bragging if they included photos of the food they ate in Italy. That’s information sharing.</p>