A Dilemma « Temporary? Insanity

A Dilemma

by Kym on November 6, 2009

ap1678 I love mail. The real sort. The sort with handwriting on the envelope and something meant for me, just me, inside. It’s a tangible expression of affection and I get downright giddy every time a piece of “real mail” arrives.

I currently have in my possession upwards of one hundred Christmas cards that I’m optimistically, possibly idiotically, planning to send out this year. The question is, who to? I sent out about fifty last year, and much to my chagrin found a dozen or so in my desk a few months later that I’d neglected to get addresses for. I felt good about the ones I sent out, of course, but then I got to thinking about it (overthinking about it, I should say), and I started to feel guilty.

Guilty.

You see, actual Christmas cards winging through the mail aren’t so much the thing anymore. It’s all email cards with photo slide shows and other funky features (those are what I usually send, after all). Easy to create, easy to send. So when I send actual cards through the actual mail I feel a bit…keen. I feel like the kid I used to be who was continually mocked for just that quality. I worry that the people I send cards to will think I’m thumbing my nose at them. Strutting my stuff, as it were. Look at me, I sent out REAL cards. I’m BETTER than you.

But…I love sending real cards. I love receiving them. I love lining them up on top of the piano and feeling loved whenever I happen to catch a glimpse. And I want to share that feeling. I want the people I love to feel loved, but I worry that if they’re not real-card people, they won’t take it that way at all. What do you think? If you’re not the type to send out cards, how do you feel about receiving them? Do you feel loved? Shamed? Bemused?

And perhaps even a more important question to ask – do you want one? Email your mailing address to kimberly.vanderhorst@gmail.com if you want in on the real-card action. No promises, of course. This could all be a moot point since hey, I have a baby arriving in a few days!

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20 comments

First? For real?

There is nothing like holding a real card in your hand and reading the real handwriting. That is probably why I prefer reading and holing books instead of listening to them on CD or reading online.

I believe you do have my address already :) !!

by An Ordinary Mom on November 6, 2009 at 12:52 pm. #

I always have good intentions about sending out Christmas cards. And then…I rarely follow through. I even went so far as to address envelopes and purchase the stamps one year, and then I only sent out a few. I am just bad.
I love receiving them. I usually only get a few though, because I am so bad about sending them out myself. Sigh.
(I loved getting a Christmas card from you last year.)

by Heffalump on November 6, 2009 at 1:04 pm. #

I like Christmas cards. Not a big fan of the annual Christmas letters, however.

by Kristina P. on November 6, 2009 at 1:18 pm. #

Oh I LOVE real Christmas cards!! I’ll email you our addresss. Can you send me yours? We usually do a picture type card and with my brother’s wedding Dec 5th, I’m thinking we’ll use a photo from that.

by warmchocmilk on November 6, 2009 at 1:31 pm. #

With a baby coming any day now, how can I lovingly say this…you’re crazy! Okay, not crazy, but if you can have a baby and run a household and get Christmas cards sent out, I am really starting to wonder whether you are SuperMom.

That said, I loved the e-card I got last year from you. And I have never sent Christmas cards because I’m not that on top of it.

Good luck to you over the next week or two! I will be thinking of you!

by Erin on November 6, 2009 at 1:31 pm. #

I was thinking about this JUST TODAY. Another reason why we’re friends.

Here are my thoughts. Gear yourself.

So. I’ve never sent Christmas cards before. I was in Brazil, and didn’t feel like paying extra postage. Plus also I was lazy.

This year, I have no international excuse.

BUT!

Practically everyone who I WOULD send a Christmas card to reads my blog. And isn’t that like one awesome Christmas card? I ask you.

I think I finally decided to just send cards to elderly relatives that don’t read my blog. They’ll be thrilled. And plus that’s only like ten people. I can do ten people.

As for receiving them, I LOVE it. But I love any mail. Although I do admit that I feel slightly shamed, as well. (And I should add that I only like Christmas cards if they include a picture and a long, mushy, heartfelt letter. Otherwise, they are just DUMB.)

There. You asked for it.

by That Girl on November 6, 2009 at 4:34 pm. #

i experience a mix of about 98% feeling loved and 2% niggling guilt. most of me would want one.

by nic on November 6, 2009 at 4:42 pm. #

I love Christmas cards and family photos and brief updates. Long epistles of why we’re the greatest family in the world are not my favorite, but I love hearing from folks nonetheless. I feel like Christmas is my one shot to let the people that I know and care about from even the distant corners of my life know that I still remember them. And that’s how I feel when I get one too.

by Stephanie on November 6, 2009 at 6:45 pm. #

I am with Kristina, not really lovin’ the letters that get tucked inside. But I do LOVE cards, with real signatures. It is sweet!

by Kazzy on November 6, 2009 at 7:41 pm. #

Love cards. And I know you have my address!

by Eowyn on November 6, 2009 at 8:55 pm. #

I’m completely old school about mail. I love handling it, opening it, holding it, smelling it, seeing the ink on the card or pages.

I feel a blog post coming on…

by Terresa Wellborn on November 7, 2009 at 12:22 am. #

I love cards. I love reading letters about families I don’t even know.

And this year is my first year of sending cards (I usually balk at the price and I bought plenty on sale last year:)). I am going to send as many cards as I can – it shouldn’t be too many because I can’t really think of many people who would be interested!

I am sure there are very few people who actually feel like you are thumbing your nose at them.

by Hel on November 7, 2009 at 1:02 am. #

Real mail is lovely, you’re right there!

by gaelikaa on November 7, 2009 at 8:57 am. #

Mail! Love. I have a hundred Christmas cards on my dining room table right now. Christmas is such an exercise in remembering why we check the mailbox (besides, you know, Netflix).

by Becca on November 7, 2009 at 9:11 am. #

I am at a crossroads with my Christmas mailings. I used to spend HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS on them (I’d include a card and a colorful newsletter). But then my computer crashed and I lost everyone’s addresses. My hubby was out of work last Christmas so I didn’t send them.

And now I’m thinking maybe I won’t. Or maybe just to those who send them to me first. They’re just so expensive and really, I keep in contact with most of my people via my blog and FB.

But I’m with you–I also just love receiving cards.

by Amber on November 7, 2009 at 10:05 am. #

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas cards and letters. The real ones. I hang them up on the back of my front door and leave them up until June or July.

I have always sent real cards, with a photocopied family letter inside. But I always add at least one or two sentences in my real handwriting.

This year, however, due to finances, we’ll be mailing out a picture postcard with a URL to the Christmas letter we’ll be posting on line. I hate to do that, but it’s all I can afford this year.

by Karlene on November 8, 2009 at 9:27 am. #

I love Christmas cards. And like Karlene, I hang them on my door, only it is my coat closet in the entry way so I can see them. And Karlene’s is always among them.

The year I had a baby (today is his birthday) I think I sent 5. Maybe. I don’t remember. Even though it has been 15 years, I still get mommy brain around some things.

by Sandra on November 8, 2009 at 9:33 am. #

I feel dissappointed when all I get is an e-card or an email instead of an actual card. I really like the photo cards people send and I save all of those in my photo albums to look at in years to come. When someone send a photo over email it’s nice, but seems “fake” to me. I can’t touch it, I can’t pull it out and look at it whenever I want. Even if I saved it on my harddrive or something, what if my computer crashes? What if there’s a blackout? What if the computer age comes crashing to a close and we have to rely on horse and buggy/telegraphs to communicate again? If that happened then at least I’d still have the physical Christmas card someone had sent me that I could look at and remember. ;)

by Kiera on November 8, 2009 at 5:46 pm. #

Christmas Cards are charming–you don’t need to feel guilty about that, Kim. You’re charming. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to hold on to loveliness, no matter what shape, size, or megabite it comes in.
And for the record, I love cards too. There’s something beautiful about getting something in the mail that isn’t a bill.

by L.T. Elliot on November 8, 2009 at 7:33 pm. #