Holiday cards
I love holiday cards. I love sending them and I love receiving them. This year I took a couple shortcuts and instead of writing out the addresses, I printed labels. I also shortened the list a bit. But the act of sitting down and writing out the cards is something I really enjoy. It gives me the time to think warm thoughts and say a short prayer for each card receipient.
Receiving the cards is very much the same. I love a good holiday letter. Reading about someone's year and the update on their lives makes me feel closer to them. Plus I learn some really good stuff.
If you are slammed with holiday joy, don't feel pressure to send cards or greetings. Take your list and divide it into four and send Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving cards instead. Or choose June 25th as your day to send cards. If sending cards doesn't work at all, pick 10 people you can call, send a text message or email to reconnect at this time of year. If you are tech savy, get out the video camera, record a holiday video, upload to You Tube and send everyone the link.
We have a rule in our house - If you don't want to do it, don't. (This works because we don't have kids). What it basically means is if you don't feel like doing the dishses, don't. They can wait until morning when one of us will feel like doing them. Don't feel like making dinner - pop in a pizza. This a great alternative to being resentful that "you do everything around here."
The same can apply to Christmas. Don't feel like sending cards - don't. Send loving thoughts or messages instead.
I love that rule! I have always loved writing out Christmas cards--I always make an effort to write at least something on every card. Then this year, I just didn't have it in me. I wanted to send pictures of cute Jack, but the thought of finding the perfect picture, the perfect card, etc. and getting them all sent out was just too much. So I decided not to do them this year. I felt a little guilty when cards started arriving in the mailbox, but not enough to reconsider. I might send out New Year's cards or even cards on Jack's birthday in March. The funny thing is, Jeff had the same attitude about Christmas lights, so I told him not to do them. He immediately felt better, but within a few days, he had gone to Target, bought some lights, and had them hanging up. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea about sending cards on another holiday. I love getting the photo cards and letters to hear about how everyone is doing but it's one of the first things I cut from my list when I'm stressed about the holidays.
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