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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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Let me just say this up front. No one got a Christmas card from me this year.
I have to lay all that on the table as a disclaimer as I now rip apart the people who care enough to send not only a card but accompany that with the all-too-fun-to-read Christmas letter.
Ah, the family Christmas letter.
We all get them and I’m sure at least once or twice we’ve read them aloud to family and friends with a kind of train-wreck fascination. You just can’t stop reading because you don’t know how bad it’s going to be. Or should I say, how good it’s going to be.
How far are they’re going to go with the whole “don’t you wish you had my life?” theme.
I had an aunt that wrote one out every year. Inside the letter which described trips overseas and promotions and purchases of big homes would be pictures of the most perfect looking, trendy people. Divorces? Never mentioned. The grandson dropping out of college? He took time to explore the world, putting to use that curiosity he attained after years of private schooling. A son who lost his job to down-sizing? Well, he’s embarking on a second career. Isn’t that grand?
See, I’m a straight shooter. I don’t think I could lay on the sap for a one-page “we understand not everyone is as lucky as we are, but we’re at least magnanimous enough to be grateful for our blessings” Christmas letter.
I could write paragraphs on divorce. On having to split Christmas with my ex-husband every year and how you can’t ever really get in the spirit because you know you‘ll be missing some moments. I could throw in a few sentences about how when you’re three years from 40 it seems all the weight settles in the thighs and hair dye doesn’t last as long as it used to.
And I got a few choice words about life’s mishaps. The baby almost choking on an ice cube, the dog refusing to eat anything other than what falls off the baby’s highchair. Or about picking up some hamburger late at the store one night only to get it home to discover that it was spoiled. (And then picking up a second spoiled batch - they wouldn’t let me poke a hole in the plastic in the store to check it - 20 minutes later.)
Not your typical Christmas-card fodder, I know, but who wants to spend any of their Christmas vacation reading about how everyone’s life is better than yours is?
Sure, everyone has things they’re proud of - who doesn’t think their kids are great? - but to me there’s a difference between thinking it and listening to someone drone on and on about it, or worse yet, spin the potentially more identifiable parts of their lives like a PR damage-control effort.
Can any other mom’s out there identify with this or am I just being a Scrooge?
Whenever I read one of these letters these days I think of the words of my late, sainted grandmother -- who every year was just crushed after my aunt’s letter came: “If you’re really great, don’t tell people. Because if you truly are, people will tell you.”
I definitely identify with what you're saying. I can't bring myself to write about how wonderful my family and life is (though there are noteworthy characteristics in both). And I don't have time to write a letter anyway. I'm what you would call a 'slacker mom.' My house is a mess and my kids, in their own loveable ways, are a mess, too. I have to admit that I often feel like an even bigger slacker when I read some of the posts on this board. My favorite Christmas letter is from a friend who puts in funny stories and quotes from his toddlers. Love your grandmother's quote.I've done the Christmas letter thing in the past, and it's hard. I just am not comfortable "bragging." However, I do enjoy getting the letters from families. I like to see what they are up to, especially since we have some very long distance friends. We know life's not that perfect, the letters are to be the highlights. I have found a funny trend I am in right now. It's my lazy way, I send picture cards I don't even sign. I felt bad about that until I noticed that I'm getting picture cards of everyone else's kids. What are we gonna do when the kids move out? We'll actually have to SIGN a real card? Eeekk!Girl, I'm with you on this one. I have a friend who once sent her letter in the form of a crossword puzzle. I was actually solving it before I realized I just didn't give a crap! Of course, that was before she had kids. Now she just sends a photo card with a pre-printed signature.Nice job! We only did one of those letters once-- the year we moved from out of state ,had a high risk pregnancy/NICU stay /then healthy baby, a new job..you get the idea-- it wasn't hard coming up with things that happened. As a matter of fact so much happened that we didn't have time to get it out for Christmas but sent Easter cards that year. Every year since: pic cards, no signature-- but they go out to arrive the day after Thanskgiving. We figure if we can't dazzle with content, we can at least be the first. I do like reading everyone elses tho-- and I think I have become a master at reading between the lines!Woah, I know exactly what you mean! My sister-in-law writes one every year... and it's like... who cares... all that time and effort and then on the day after Christmas it goes in the trash...Ha!Ha! So funny! I hate getting Xmas letters that are really long, brag, and discuss people I do not know (like the great aunt of somebody). However, last year I got a Xmas poem from a friend that was short, sweet, clever, and to the point. So I did a poem this year. It was less than a page long (and each line was just a few words) and I only mentioned the going ons of the four of us. We are a military family and I like to keep up with people we have become close to in our travels, so I thought that was cute way to do it.I like getting Christmas letters, I guess I'm an oddball, but it keeps me up on what is happening with our extended family and friends. I save them from year to year. Sometimes I send them, sometimes I don't....no time this year, didn't even send a card. I tend to like the upbeat letters best. The poem sounds like an awesome idea. And I like the crossword puzzle idea also. I hate the downer letters. On year a co-worker sent out his letter telling everyone how his family went bankrupt that year, and had a baby, but they were all basically living in poverty because of their financial woes...it was like a plea for help. He sent it to everyone he knew. It was pathetic. Oh, byt he way, he wasn't exactly living in poverty, he lived just down the street from me and was very well fed as was his baby. Just thought I'd add that so I don't sound like a scrooge.I love getting Christmas letters. I am disappointed when the card doesn't include a picture or a letter. I like to know what people have been up to, especially people I don't see often. If they've had a wonderful year, I think that's just fabulous and would like to celebrate with them.I love getting Christmas letters, too. I like to keep up with what people are doing. We have moved around a lot and it's one way to keep in touch with friends and family around the country. We're up to our 21st Christmas letter and our friends always mention how much they enjoy reading it.I love getting Christmas letters, too. I like to keep up with what people are doing. We have moved around a lot and it's one way to keep in touch with friends and family around the country. We're up to our 21st Christmas letter and our friends always mention how much they enjoy reading it.I have a hilarious friend whose Christmas card is one of the highlights of the season for me. He spares us nothing -- all his and his wife's medical procedures, how he doesn't earn nearly enough money, how his son just got his third tattoo, etc., etc. Truly worth running to the mailbox for. This year the ickiest card came from a widowed (somewhat recently) friend of my parents' who (somewhat recently) remarried. He let us all know how the two of them spent a weekend at the site of their first "romantic encounter." Yuck.I like getting Christmas letters, even braggy ones. And, yes, I do skim parts of many of them! I don't have an interest in some acquaintance's distant uncle or whatever, but I find the letter, itself, interesting. I do feel a bit guilty that I don't send out a card of any kind, not even an environmentally-friendly e-card, let alone a Christmas letter. I think the people I care most about already know what's going on in our lives, so it's hard for me to write about our family unless something big has happened that's way interesting. I'll bet your Christmas letter would be a hoot! I agree with your grandmother's comments as an overall philosophy, and I do wish some people would adopt that when writing braggy Christmas letters.
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