Surely, I could have found something noteworthy to write about over the last week, and you know, there probably was something, but I've been too lazy to sit down and write about it. To be fair, I did finish most of our Christmas cards. That's kind of like blogging, right? Except that we don't actually write anything in our cards, so never mind.I never sent out Christmas cards before having Evan. Each year I'd buy a box of cards, but never send them. There were a few reasons for this - I was horrible at keeping track of people's addresses, I kept putting it off until it was too late, and I never knew what to write in them. Of course, all of my more organized and motivated friends and family would get their cards out by Thanksgiving, leaving me in their proverbial dust.
Then we had a baby, and I discovered the merit of those little rectangle cards everyone sends. We pick out a font, type a short, but heartfelt message, and then everyone gets to see how cute Evan got this year. I still had to write out all the addresses, but the rest is a no-brainer.
I think there are two types of people in this world: card people and non-card people. And if that was true, I would definitely fall in the non-card category. I don't enjoy picking them out, or writing in them, and to be honest, I never really know what to do with cards when I get them. Don't get me wrong, I love displaying all the Christmas cards we receive. And, this year has been fun because I can tell Evan who each one is from and he gets a kick out of it, but what happens after the season is over? What do you do with all of those cards, especially the picture ones, like we send out?
I'm not very sentimental, so I usually throw them away. I feel really bad throwing people's pictures away, though. But what's the alternative? Keeping every picture card I've ever gotten?
Some friends of ours shared a practical application for all of those yearly pictures - They use them as prayer reminders throughout the year. I like this idea, and I think we're going to steal it. So, if you send us a picture card, this year you won't end up in the trash. Instead, every few days or weeks you'll be in my adorable little son's hands as he prays for you!
Any other thoughts on cards? Why we even send them in the first place? What they mean to you? or What you do with all of them?
4 comments:
We enjoy getting them and getting the picutes and updates that come with some. I usually put the pictures on my fridge for half the year. Then, this past year, I had the girls cut and glue them into a prayer scrapbook. I think I'll continue that tradition. With teh cards, I have the girls cut out parts of them and make a collage on cardboard. Then, we put them in a frame and display them at Christmastime each year. I think we send them out just to let people we are thinking about them, and some, remind people of the true reason for the season. It's just one of the many parts of Christmas I look forward to-so, if you need our address, let us know! :-) No pressure...
Jeanelle- I have a photo album that is only for the pictures people send in the mail (throughout the year, not just Christmas). I usually have to trim the Christmas cards to fit, but it's still a nice way to keep everyone's photos for a while. After they have hung on the fridge for a while (I love hanging pictures on the fridge), into the album they go! Of course, that's not as spiritual as using them as prayer reminders... that's a great idea!
BTW, i'm totally a card person. Love, love, LOVE them, but this year... oi, I can hardly keep up with the holidays. I think next year will be a lesser card effort (if this year is not already such a thing...).
I like your new idea! We keep the ones for our family and close friends on the refrigerator for awhile. I usually end up putting all of the Christmas cards in a big ziplock then storing them away with our Christmas decorations. It's fun to look at them again next year, esp the picture ones. The regular cards I end up getting rid of after a few years or whenever I need more space in our storage containers.
I don't do Christmas cards either even though i've been saying i'm going to every year for the last like 5 years at least. we thought about it last year since we were in our first house w/ our first real tree, but didn't do it, and talked about it again this year, but didn't do it. I am usually good about sending out birthday and anniversary cards to people though. i just feel like there are too many people out there to do Christmas cards for all at once. And like no one will really want a picture of us and our cat! :) i love receiving them though!
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