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| Do you still send Christmas/holiday cards? |
I have a card wreath I hang them all on and each year, that wreath has gotten a little thinner. It's clear the idea of sending Christmas greetings through the mail is fading.
Which makes me a little sad. I LOVE getting those cards and updates on friends who live around the world. I put those photos on my refrigerator and think about them often...sometimes pray for them while I'm making lunch for my kids before school each morning.
But I understand the trend. Twenty years ago, there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no form of social media. The Internet was just a rumor. We didn't even have cell phones. (Horrors!) So sending a yearly card was an important way we all kept in touch.
Now we do that almost every day. We see photos of each other's kids as the event happens, whether it be a birth or a graduation or a wedding. It's really cool...
...and not surprising that the cost of this connectedness means fewer of us send Christmas cards. For the past few years, I've sent a photo card of the kids with a link to our annual newsletter. I stopped sending the actual newsletter (along with an actual card) a while ago.
This year, I'm just posting a note on our family blog. No specialized card or postage. No paper going out. Just an image and an email with the link to my family and friends.
And I'm curious - what do YOU send out for Christmas? *looks right* Take a peek at my Christmas card poll and click on it, pretty please!! I'll post the results next week to see if my hunch is right and we're all going the way of the Grinch when it comes to holiday cards.
Have a great week!
8 comments:
I've noticed a lessening in the number of cards over the years. Everything you say makes sense, but I also wonder if US and UK approach Christmas cards differently.
Years ago, I used to mail cards to friends and family, even those I was in close contact with through the year. It wasn't a matter of exchanging news, it was a seasonal greeting pure and simple.
As soon as I moved to Canada, I noticed a different attitude. People simply don't exchange cards like that in the same way.
We still mail cards overseas, together with photos and newsletter (which I must get on with writing!) and get cards from family and a few overseas friends. I hear how my relatives enjoy the newsletter. I would be sad to see it become a link to an online page.
I haven't noticed a lessening of Christmas greetings.
But I have noticed a change from cards photo cards. We get a ton of photo cards but not so much regular greeting cards.
I do photo cards for most. And for certain family (aunt/uncle & immediate family), I'll send wallet sized photos of kids in a card.
I've always been really bad about sending cards. I think doing it all online is a great alternative, if only to save money on postage. :)
I love sending cards to friends and family. (I actually just sent out my address update email this morning.) Over the years the number of cards I've gotten has definitely gone down, but I don't take offense when people don't return the gesture. Just because it's part of my holiday tradition doesn't mean it has to be apart of everyone's.
I'm afraid I don't. Right now, I can't afford to do any large scale mailings. :/
Maybe someday!
I still send Christmas cards. If you don't send one back, you get cut from the list. Unless you're over 65, widowed, or a sibling.
I'm with you - the idea of mailed cards fading away makes me sad. I did a post about it on my blog a while back. I definitely still send good old-fashioned Christmas cards.
I used to send out nothing because it costs a lot. Now my hubs insist that we sent out Xmas cards. If I can get a really good pic of my kid, I enclose that.
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