Christmas Cards

I remember when I was little, my mom would send out a massive amount of Christmas cards, and equally receive the same amount of cards in return. She would display them around the house and I would peak in them wondering who half those people were. As an adult, I took over my mom’s tradition, sending cards to people that I only see their name on a Xmas card once a year.

I’ve known a lot of people who keep tabs every year of who sends them a card. That’s how they determine who will get a card from them the following year. I’ve tried this, and it doesn’t feel right. Trust me, I don’t want to send cards every year to people I never hear from, but I prefer to send cards to people who have been there throughout the entire year. I still view it that way, minus the few family members that I feel obliged.

The older I get, the more I don’t see the point of sending cards. Most people don’t take the time to write in them, and you don’t hear from them all year anyways. I have a few members that send a photocopy of a family picture along with a typed letter of what is going on in the family. I find this extremely impersonal. The rest of the family rolls in laughter and refers to this as “brag letters”. If someone doesn’t have the time to tell me throughout the year what is going on in their lives, and only has time to send a letter that is photocopied to everyone, well, I really don’t care.

So now, I no longer have a “standard” list that I send to the same people every year. I don’t pay attention to who has sent the year before. I just send to the people who have mattered to me throughout the year. How do you send your cards?