Do you Love Christmas Brag Cards?

I love Christmas Cards with a brief update, but loathe the Christmas letters with pages of typewrittten "I did better than you did last year."

We had an acquaintance who catalogued everything his kids did. It was so boring it was funny.

I hate these letters and feel like saying, "Good for you. We are destitute, in jail and about to be executed."

Do you laugh at such letters also?

11/20/2010

Alice..

I have never gotten one ! Prefer Christmas card, I
create my own and send them....I hate letters that go
on and on about how well we did...


Cheers..Joe

Dear Alice,
I think people write those long letters mostly for themselves. They are a mini memoire. I look at them as a kind of attempt to connect their lives to other people's lives that they have not thought about much all year. The people who care about them already know all those details.

My ex husband's wife sends me one every year with all the details. She considers that she is the step-mother of my children and she is. So, in her letter she includes the doings of my kids and grands. It does not offend me in the least. She has her cloud and I have mine. Love,
Betty

Betty,

I am not offended by them, simply amused and don't read some of them, because they are so detailed they bore me.

Telling me a 15 year old girl worked as a babysitter is not too astounding or even noteworthy.

I occasionally send them to certain individual family members who were always certain I would screw my life up, but not necessarily at Christmastime.

Ann

alj wrote:

I occasionally send them to certain individual family members who were always certain I would screw my life up, but not necessarily at Christmastime.

Ann

I applaud you!

I just wish I knew how to send one to Dave's second grade teacher. He was in her honors class and insisted the whole year that he didn't belong there. She expected the bright kids to be very conscientious and love doing their assignments and didn't "get" him at all, so he developed an attitude and gave her fits. She didn't think he would amount to much, so it would be really fun to tell her he was a tenured college professor with a PhD in theoretical astrophysics, married to a tenured professor of music theory, and father of a delightful daughter. That's a letter I would totally enjoy writing.

Ann

I, also would love to write lettters to my kid's teachers who despaired of my children's lack of interest in school and tell them how our daughter is teaching in a University and our son is a Financial analyst.

alj wrote:

I just wish I knew how to send one to Dave's second grade teacher. He was in her honors class and insisted the whole year that he didn't belong there. She expected the bright kids to be very conscientious and love doing their assignments and didn't "get" him at all, so he developed an attitude and gave her fits. She didn't think he would amount to much, so it would be really fun to tell her he was a tenured college professor with a PhD in theoretical astrophysics, married to a tenured professor of music theory, and father of a delightful daughter. That's a letter I would totally enjoy writing.

Ann

Do it! Look for her on the Internet. At least write the letter if you can't mail it, so be it. You will have the fun of getting it all off your chest.

Actually, I think my aunt already did that. She still lives in my hometown. I once mentioned to my aunt that I would like for her to know, and my aunt suggested that it might be arranged.

One of the teacher's pet phrases was, "Let's get down to business." It annoyed Dave so much he once filled several pages in his journal with the expression. This was supposed to be a private journal. The teacher had promised the students she would not read it. but it was one of the things she showed me during a conference. When I told him his great aunt might enlighten the woman, he smiled and said, "Have her say that I finally got down to business."

Ann

oops, double post

[quote="LC"]

alice wrote:

Telling me a 15 year old girl worked as a babysitter is not too astounding or even noteworthy.

Ok, I'm going to disagree. If it's a first job, or an on-going source of income for her, it's noteworthy. Clearly the girl is excited and happy enough about being hired and trusted with that responsibility to mention it.

I used to feel the same way you do about such letters, but that changed after I stopped getting any letters at all. For many years I sent no letters out myself, and was indifferent to the ones I got. I figured if they hadn't contacted me all year, what makes them think I care now? As that devolved over the years into a total loss of contact and Christmases without a single card at all, I realized that the letters aren't so bad. The past few Christmases I've been reaching out and trying to mend those broken fences.

And I'd rather get a real card than an e-card.

Good point, LC.