Holiday Humiliation

I love getting Christmas cards--especially the family pictures from faraway friends.  That way I get to watch their children grow up through the mail.

None of my friends are watching my children grow up.  Because I've never sent holiday cards.  The idea is way too much pressure for a professional procrastinator.

I do THINK about sending cards.

I think about it every Thanksgiving at my sister's house.  On her wall is a framed collection of 30 years worth of cards since her kids were born.  My sister is my polar opposite. And seeing her collection makes me feel worse about my own deficiency since I have actually TAKEN some of the photos on her cards.

This always makes me think I should send out my own.  But I never do. 

Should I should add this to my list of failings as a mother?  Did I traumatize my kids by not sending out cute pictures of them?  Is it too late to start sending cute pictures of kids in their early twenties? 

My kids never complained, so I didn't think this mattered to them.

Until I got a little clue.  Two years ago my daughter decided to send out her own holiday cards while her husband was in Iraq.  She came over to my house so I could help her with the mailing.  Not that she needs help.  Both of my kids are incredibly organized.

So Alli came over and I helped her print pictures and stuff envelopes and stamp them and she sent her cards out.  And I got so inspired that I decided to do my own.  I did exactly what Alli did.  I bought cards and stamps and printed out copies of my favorite picture of the kids.  And then

...I'm sure I'll find the stack of cards and photos sometime this January, since I'm making a New Year's resolution to get organized.  Because of course, I never mailed them out.

Alli is sending out cards again this year.  It's a tiny bit embarrassing, but I learned my lesson last time.  At this point in life, I feel secure and realistic enough to abandon the idea of holiday cards.  And I felt okay about that.

Until today.  When this came in the mail.  From my son and his college roommates.

They even got them out on time. 

In the middle of finals.

 

I'm humbled by my children.  And not sure where they came from.

Comments

[Mark Geduldig-Yatrofsky]

In reading your daily "confessions to the Universe," I wonder about how you came to where you are. Admittedly, as a latecomer to Miami Beach, I did not have the extensive exposure to you through childhood and adolescence that other classmates had. The you that I thought I knew was poised, self-confident, and very bright. Nothing you have written has diminished my estimation of your brightness, but I now wonder if: 1) the self-confidence you projected was a shield protecting the Woody Allen side of you; 2) the persona in these journal entries is a self-caricature whose flaws are overstated and strengths underplayed; or 3) somewhere along the line you dove into the river Styx, and now nothing anyone knows about you can do you harm. "O, brave new world that has such people [as you] in it!"

[Rosy V]

Hi!!! Before I know it, it's Dec. 26, 2008. I have good intentions, but don't really know what happened. My cards on sitting right by me now. :)

[Darryle]

Rosy--you make me feel I'm not the only one.
Mark, I'm not sure what to say. Maybe as I've gotten older I've embraced my inner Woody Allen.

[Duchess]

I've got people permanently mad at me for not sending them a Christmas card. It only makes it worse if I get organised and send one the following year, or any year. That proves I snubbed them once upon a time. Only hope is to never, ever send a card again... oh dear.

[Darryle]

Nobody ever gets mad at me for not sending cards--on holidays, birthdays, etc.. Anyone who knows me probably has very very low expectations.

[Neil]

This is the very first year that I am sending out cards, mostly because of all the people I have met online. But I can already see why it is a pain in the ass, and my own mother stopped sending out Rosh Hashanah cards in the Fall. It is time consuming, and everyone feels the need to be reciprocal, so it ends up being more of a chore. But, for one year, it is a good experience, and it is fun getting cards from new people.

[Darryle]

Love the idea that your online friends online motivated you to send cards. Once you start, you raise expectations, and you might have to keep it up. I'll have to remember to check in with you-- same time next year. If we're still friends online, I'll expect a card. LOL.

[Mark Geduldig-Yatrofsky]

As one who does not relate to the religious or commercial aspects of Christmas, I only send "Season's Greetings" e-cards to a select few, just to keep the "sea lanes" open. My wife handles the limited number of paper greetings to the handful of our "unwired" friends and family here and abroad. (Darryle, you can consider this posting my holiday greeting to you! I will assume that you meant to send me one but didn't get around to it.) E-cards are very cost effective, environmentally friendly (no need to landfill or incinerate them), clutter free (no angst over when to dispose of them), and ideal for procrastinators (even if you send them at 11:59 PM on Christmas Eve, they'll be at their destination the same time as Santa).