Do you send Christmas/Holiday cards?

Parent Cafe
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I was perusing our Christmas card basket this morning. Our circle of friend and family contemporaries have definitely entered the children “wedding phase” based on the cards this year. DH is a Christmas card diehard…we send one every year. We received our first digital Christmas card this year. I love opening them during December and hearing about the year’s highlights and seeing new additions to the family.

Do you send Christmas/holiday cards? Did you when your kids were younger and phased out later?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/12/21/paper-christmas-cards/

Why the internet can’t kill holiday cards: The paper card persists — and tells a story about your family in a way a text never could….

https://wapo.st/41yt46f (gifted)

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We still do it (kids are 18 and 20) but a lot of our friends no longer do. I’d say we get half as many as we used to.

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The tradition died the year I was too overwhelmed and forgot to do it in a timely manner. So no cards here. Sorry USPS. :wink:

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We used to but used the pageboy as an excuse to stop.

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I still do it. We definitely get fewer than we used to. One of my favorite traditions my mom did was send a photo card of us each year. This was in the 70s, so it was a big deal. She has a copy of each one now on a banner on the mantle.

So I kept up the tradition. I also write a letter and fill that with photos from the year. That only gets sent to maybe 15 people. Mostly older relatives. I have kept at least 2 copies of each in a folder for my kids. I figure it’s a nice mini diary of their lives - what their Mom felt the need to tell the world each year.

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I’m dwindling down the list little by little. I used to send 150 cards. I’m down to about 24 now and they only go to people who we aren’t connected to on social media (like he older generations). I feel like the days of only hearing from people once/year at the holiday time are over.

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I have two elderly aunts who live in another state that I send cards and a picture. Otherwise I wait until I receive one to send one. The total is usually around 8. Sometime it is a text or an email. And I respond the same way.

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H and I still send cards but the list is shrinking as we get fewer and fewer back each year.

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I have been sending cards since early in our marriage and enjoy doing them. I don’t keep track of who sends and who doesn’t, you stay on my list until you die. The Reaper has pared the list over the years, but it grows back with new friends we’ve acquired in our several moves keeping the list roughly stable at around 90 cards. I write a short personal note in each, and I include a Snapfish-like insert with pictures on one side and a general annual update on the other.

That was us this year. The insert pics were mostly of our son’s June wedding.

ETA: Perhaps cards still mean something to me because I’m not a texter or social media user.

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I stopped years ago when I just became too overwhelmed and FB took off so we saw each others families all the time. I did nithceva resurgence this year of friends with their adult children and grandchildren.

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yes, we still do! maybe not as many, but we still do!

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I sent an online greeting. Every year I intend to get cards done…but I just don’t seem to get around to it. I am thankful that folks haven’t booted me off their card lists.

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I send cards. My youngest got married this year so the picture was easy. I send about 100 and maybe receive 50. love receiving cards and I hang them up. I will take the Christmas decorations down this week but I will leave the cards up a few more weeks.

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14

Nope to Christmas cards. I always really disliked the whole process and there was absolutely no joy in doing it, it was only another task to add onto the Christmas task list for me. Such a huge relief when I stopped. My husband could care less if we sent or when we receive.

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I don’t send them any more. When I used to, I would include at least a short handwritten note. I don’t know why, but I find cards with the sender’s pre-printed name to be annoying. It doesn’t take long to scribble your name and is much more personal. I’m an old fogey.

This year we were quite startled to get a photo card from my husband’s nephew that included two children. No one in his family had thought to tell us they had a baby recently! DH has four siblings. His family is so different from mine.

My mom did a long, detailed newsletter with photos every year. She asked my sister and me to send her an update that she would include. I miss those.

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I find these incredibly impersonal and we are getting more and more that are obviously just shipped directly from snap fish or shutterfly or wherever.

The cards that I do still send always are handwritten, have a letter, and a photo.

I do try to connect with friends/family directly in December either with calls or long emails instead of a traditional card.

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Odd man out here. I love the cards that are photo cards with a short message imprinted from the sender. I really like seeing the pictures, way more than I enjoyed those long drawn out Christmas letters. We don’t get many of those anymore and I don’t miss them. But the printed cards with pics? I love them! And I don’t care whether someone signs them with a pen…or not.

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Well, if there’s a photo, that’s a little better, but I get the printed cards with no photo. Just a generic greeting card.

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I have no problem receiving cards with preprinted names, messages or addresses. My favorite part is the picture and I love a short message. I don’t get as many letters but I like them too.

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Sorry we don’t send you one, this is exactly our strategy. Pack in as many photos as possible of the years highlights for all three kids, sometimes mom and dad make the cut like this year with 25th anniversary and a pair of 50th birthdays. Then add a sentence for each kids highlights or trips we took.

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