But in the past few years, I have become a little more ambivalent about this exchange. Not to sound like an ingrate, but I remember holiday cards when they were actual cards. Some were sentimental (sniff). Others traditional (yawn but sweet). And some witty & clever (my personal favorite). Whatever the design, the cards often revealed the mind-set of the sender, and I always looked forward to seeing what they picked out, as I had carefully, and sometimes painstakingly, chosen mine. Then came the photo cards and ruined it for us old-schoolers. At first it wasn't all vanity. Initially, I enjoyed seeing pictures of my friends (or at least of their children and/or dog). Then it went steroidal. Now, not only do we get to see what they look like, we get to see them in different poses. I call it the "we look so good in all of them we couldn't decide" look. Or "it wouldn't be right to tell you how gorgeous we are, so I better just show you" look. Any of these variations work. This is probably the only time of year when showing-off is legitimized and condoned. In effect, Christmas cards have become less about the recipient and all about the sender. Ba-humbug!
This year, I got bullied by my 8 year old daughter into doing a mini photo shoot in the backyard. She essentially wanted me to keep up with the times, no more hand-written Christmas cards for our family. She wanted to create a card with three images, a picture of her, one of her brother, and one of both of them together. We compromised and did a photo card, one image, no dog (poor Beck). I'm a little afraid for next year...
And as a disclaimer. I do enjoy seeing photos of my friends. It's just when the "randoms" send me their photo spreads do I shudder. If you're reading this, you're probably not one of the latter. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
You, of course, have the world's most adorable children and thus may be forgiven for ANY type of holiday photo. I agree with you on this, though: I much prefer a real card with real writing. THe photo/bragfests that appear at my house are really kind of awful, and border on the offensive. I also have a thing about really religious cards, especially from those who know I don't share their views/persuasion/faith.
ReplyDeleteKeep these blogs coming! You are giving me topic ideas. A
Bragfest! In a word, yes. Now why didn't I think of that? I wrote that last night after I started addressing cards. I needed to vent as well as try to justify my own photo cards. I hope my blog doesn't turn into a bitchfest!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to write and not think too much about it. Otherwise I will never publish it on the blog. Thanks for reading.