I started a post on Christmas cards on November 17th. I went back and forth. I yammered. I yammered some more, and then, I couldn't come to a conclusion on how to handle this tradition.
I let the post sit in draft form.
Fast forward to a whirlwind shopping mall photo session before Thanksgiving. We got a good shot. I came home and started to troll the web for Christmas card deals. I almost pulled the trigger.
Then, I thought some more about a question I asked on my personal Facebook page:
Do you think most people throw away the Christmas photo cards they receive?
Granted, this was a self-selected bunch. I'm sure there were many throw-away-ers that saw my question but didn't want to self-identify because they probably thought they would offer the wrong answer.
There's no wrong answer to the question. I just wanted to know what most people did.
My informal poll concluded that a little over half of people keep them, a few even said they put them in albums. (Remember, we are talking about photo cards here. Not regular cards.)
That's what I do. Not that I expect people to do what I do. But that's what I do.
But isn't it interesting that many of us are just throwing them away?
Is it worth it? All these fancy photo cards? I think they are beautiful, but I've never done the fancy photo card. I just do the original photo cards with a block on the end you can easily cut off. Is the less-fancy photo card even worth it? Is what we go through to get to the photo cards worth it? The time? The money?
The better question is: is it prudent for my family?
This year, I did so much hemming and hawing that I finally said: enough! I'm not sending out cards! It's stressing me out!
I'm glad I got our little three dressed in clothes we already had, used a good Living Social deal, and got someone to get all of them looking at the camera. But that's as far as it goes this year.
The Christmas card....it's what's falling away this Christmas.
Tell me what's fallen away at your house this Advent and Christmas. Did you do cards? Or will you do cards?
Hi there, Just found your blog again in a roundabout way. I like the idea of "what falls away" at Christmas.
ReplyDeletei love getting Christmas cards (even tho I do throw them away when the season's over), so I probably will keep sending them. I send just the simple, cheap-o photo cards from JC Penney. I like getting my kids' photos taken once a year, anyway, b/c I am a crummy photographer myself. But the photography session itself is excruciating (my firstborn is not cooperative), and then I make rushed purchasing decisions afterward b/c the kids are out of patience. So the photocards might fall by the wayside someday. . . .
For now, what's fallen away for me is Christmas baking. I don't really enjoy baking that much, and I enjoy eating way too much! I might do a batch of sugar cookies w/ my kids if they ask to, but we'll keep it as simple as possible.
I also get overwhelmed w/ all the Advent traditions people do. Jesse Trees, Saint Nicholas Day . . . it all overwhelms me for some reason. We do an Advent wreath and sing "Oh come oh come Emmanuel" and that's enough.
Thought-provoking post series! Thanks!
Oh, hi, Laura! Thanks for commenting. Glad you found me again. :)
DeleteI have loved Christmas cards, too! I wrote that in my first draft of the post, but I don't think it made it into my final draft. I don't think I am going to receive too many this year, thanks to my Facebook inquiry! Hahaha! Oh, well.
I'm glad you can let the things that need to or that you want to fall away and really focus on one tradition that speaks to you. O Come, O Come Emmanuel speaks so deeply to me. I love the song so much. You've got me thinking about how to focus just a little bit more..... thanks, Laura!