Card Attack

I used to love getting Christmas cards in the mail. i look forward to seeing what kinds of cards people; religious? secular? funny? serious? modern? classic? i look at them like mail-order art and, as was the tradition in my family, would hang them on a wall to brighten up the living room during the Season. A couple of years ago, at Pier 1, i bought an enormous wire wall hanging in the shape of a Christmas tree, that's made to hold about 50 cards; by New Years the thing barely has room to fit any more and there's usually a small pile underneath from the ones that fall off. Yup, Christmas cards used to make me so very happy. then came...the children.

the cards we used to get contained hand written well-wishing, greetings and signatures; sometimes the envelopes were also handwritten but sometimes they were labels. either way, there was still the personal element involved with the card that said: my friend and/or his/her significant other, took the time to send me a Christmas/holiday card; they really are thinking of us this season! 90% of the cards we receive now, though, are just pictures of my friends' and family's kids; some are studio shots and some are snapshots that have been Walmarted or Zazzled into a card. this card is then stuck in an envelope with an address printed address label on it. no greeting. no signature. not even spit on the self-adhesive stamp. it may as well have come from our plumber or the guy who sold us our car.

now i know some might argue that we're lucky to be receiving cards at all, and that my feelings fly in the face of the spirit of the holiday, when it's the "thought that counts", and to those folks i say:  i am so very over these kinds of cards; i'd rather not receive a card from someone, than get one that's just a picture of their kid, because cards with just a photo of a kid on it usually shows no thought at all. i get that you're busy wiping snot and changing pull-ups and driving to tae kwon do or indoor, coed, non-denominational soccer (in addition to your 9 to 5 job); you're busy and i get that. so don't send a "card". you know who wants to get pics of your kids; e-mail them, save the postage and call it a day.

that's not going to happen, though. most, parents don't get the message that their little sun and/or moon is not the center of everyone's universe. they shouldn't be surprised though, that their "card" is somewhere in pile under our card tree, along with other pictures of people's kids...