I hate Christmas letters. People who you’ve lost touch with send out these letters with all of their family’s accomplishments and the exotic places they have traveled to. I seem to be left with a feeling of “I’m boring.”
One of the reasons why I have such a distaste for those types of letters is because I think people are not being authentic. I’m all for sharing your happy times but tell me what’s hard, too. Tell me that you’ve been eating too much or you’re concerned about your older daughter. Please be real with me. And I also know that a Christmas letter is not an appropriate place to advertise your struggles. So whoever started those letters, please rethink them.
On the same note, I don’t ever want to discourage a younger parent with any of my words. Parenting is a tough job and from my experience there are highs and valleys…very deep valleys. So, because I’ve shared my doubts and fears as a parent, I wanted to share my joys, too.
I want to publicly thank each of my five kids for allowing my hubby and I to go away for the night. When we got home, the house was relatively picked up and everyone was so happy. If there was any fighting between whomever, I didn’t hear about it. Laundry was done and a nice fire was going. Thank you, dear children. I am very proud of each of you and today, I’m proud that I’m a parent.
P.S. The picture is not our house…(it’s the B&B we stayed at in Seattle…maybe in my next Christmas letter, I could say we inherited a few million and…naw!)
Hey Jan. You know, I don’t mind those holiday letters. I love it when people take the time to put a card together, put our names on it, grab a stamp and mail it. Yes, I roll my eyes sometimes at the hyperbole but, most of the time, I’m thrilled to receive hand-written cards from a friend or relative. That’s my two cents! (-:
I don’t mind them either, although most of them are extremely lame. Give a choice between no news and lame news. I’ll take the latter.
Hi Lisa,
I love handwritten cards, too. They are treasures. (I’m horrible with sending out Christmas cards in general but that may change in the future.)
It’s the typed up list that don’t share all sides of their lives that make me think twice about their note. I’m all for rejoicing with others in the successes and joys but I’m also able to mourn with others when I need to.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Sheila,
I appreciate your words. I was hesitant to post this but I’m learning that conflict is okay. So I’m glad you shared.
Jan I understand! For years we got letters telling us how friends’ children earned their doctorates before they were 12 or climbed Mt. Everest on their 15th birthday or are on the candidate list for the Nobel Prize in Biology. OK, maybe those are exaggerations…but compared to our very REAL (and actually quite boring) life, that is how it felt! ;-D
But I have also found that sharing accomplishments isn’t really sharing yourself. We DO send Christmas letters, but ours are a bit different. We send (I hand write a note on a card) a newspaper-type letter with 1 sentence snippets of where each person is at in their life (can’t get too braggy in 1 sentence ;-D) and then a short 4 sentence article about a major family event or two…one year it was a death, another a family reunion, another a child going off for a year of mission work – happy, sad and exciting things.
But the other thing we do is send a page of family quotes. Funny things that have been said throughout the year (and we have some whoppers – we are all a bit on the silly side). This REALLY gives a picture of who we are as a family without having to bring up the brain transplant our 9 year old performed at the Mayo Clinic! ;-D
Okay, you hit the jackpot! Maybe it’s “them homeschoolers” that I was referring to. 🙂
I want to hear about friends and families – but I guess it’s wanting people to be authentic in their sharing of their lives. You don’t have to impress me because I love “you” the way you are – not the way you think you should be.
I’ll step down off my soapbox. But this has been a fun topic. 🙂
Is that B&B on Capitol Hill or Queen Anne? I might have to send you my 2010 Holiday Letter. It was on the humorous side.
It’s on Capitol Hill. I’d love to see your holiday letter. Love funny ones!
j
I don’t mind the Christmas letters either. Oh some are a bit boring and others over-the-top, but I absolutely adore a few that we receive that are written to explain the past year in a humorous way. I actually look forward to those. I started writing our Christmas limerick and sending it out 11 years ago. Every year I sit and write it out and laugh myself into tears. The rules are that it MUST rhyme and be funny…or at least make my family and close friends laugh. Some are more funny than others…like the first one that focused on our new puppy and adapting to her….but overall, it’s a fun holiday activity to do and everyone now suggests things for me to write about.