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Growing up, my family didn't do the holiday card thing. I don't know if it was because we were Jewish, or because my parents were divorced, or because we didn't own matching reindeer sweaters… but it was never even brought up as a topic of conversation let alone a potential endeavor. Other people must have sent us cards, but as a kid, unless you're the one being forced to sit by the fire and plaster a smile on your face, holiday cards generally fall outside of your radar. You can very easily go through high school, college and even half of your twenties without giving them a second thought.

At some point though, the people whose parents used to make them sit at the foot of the Christmas tree for their annual family photo start sending Christmas cards of their own. It happens slowly, when your friends begin to get married. But once the happy couples start procreating, it's like someone broke the valve on the holiday card dam and it's a wonder anything else can jam itself into your mailbox.

I've learned to appreciate the deluge of cards for three reasons. 1) They feel festive and remind me it's time to get my ass in gear and buy some gifts. 2) It's nice to set them up on our credenza and say "Gee! We have a lot of friends!" and 3) It's a yearly lesson in memorizing the names of our friends' kids.

This is the first year that my husband and I have joined the "People with Kids" club. Our baby was born in December 2009, so we got a pass last year as far as holiday cards go. WE WERE BUSY. But now Mazzy is coming up on a year and it's holiday card season all over again and the burning question is: Are we holiday card people? Cause we don't even have a fireplace!

The fact is, holiday cards are a lot easier to create now than when we were kids. You just pick a template, upload a picture, and voila! holiday photo cards arrive at your door. As far as the photo goes, I have to believe we can be holiday card people without being snowflake-sweaters-in-front-of-a-burning-fireplace people. And it seems like most people forgo the picture of the entire family showcasing their perfect domestic bliss in favor of the kids doing the job all by themselves, like the three designs above. All anybody really cares about is seeing the baby anyway. And of course, whatever the hell the kid's name is so they can get it right on NEXT year's holiday card.

So if I add all that together (easy + no snowman sweaters + I don't have to be in the picture), I think this might be the year to give the holiday card thing a whirl. But, mark my words, we will NEVER EVER be a yearly newsletter family.

 

Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source. This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.