What's your rule on Christmas/holiday cards?

mtngirl2007

Do you keep sending cards to folks who don't reciprocate? I struggle with this every year. There are a few people that I don't care if they don't reciprocate b/c I know that they're super busy, it's not their style, whatever....but for others, I wonder. Should I keep on sending year after year or stop?

We order 50 cards each year and send out every one of them. As we add new people to the list, it would be nice to drop others that don't reciprocate off so that we don't have to bump up to 75 card order! But in the end, that's not really in the spirit of the season.

What's your rule?

todds_wife

I had never thought about if we get cards from those we send to or not.

I have a list, I send those out, and I hold some back in case I need to reciprocate if we get one from out of left field, so-to-speak, but once I send the ones I send, I never really think about if they send one back or not - some folks don't do cards I guess, but Keri is still going to clutter up their mail box if she wants to say hello. 

(I do usually have "second string" cards - this year it will be cards I have collected leftovers from throughout the years with a pic of Coop stuffed in, instead of my super-cute custom photo cards - now I sound like Elaine trying to figure out if someone is "sponge worthy"...  4th cousin Eddie may have sent me a card, but he isn't getting one of my fancy ones!!)

 

XMrsV2005

I don't send Christmas Cards. I also don't get any lol. Instead my extended family mainly communicates on facebook.

If I were going to send cards, I would send them to people who I communicate with during the year. If the only time we reach out is to send Christmas cards, I'd cut them from the list. 

Pesky

Like you, depends on the person.  There are some who I know do not send out cards due to lifestyle (single guys), infirmity, money, etc. and I will still send them one.  Sometimes I send out cards for business contact purposes so don't keep track of reciprocity on those.  Otherwise, you are fair game for getting the Christmas card list axe.  We dropped a few this year for that reason.  I keep some cards in reserve for those in case they decide to start sending one but we add to the list it seems like every year and our list is already about at 100!!  So I feel zero guilt in not sending a card to someone I don't otherwise keep in touch with.  I'd order the 50 and just pick up some regular cards just in case.

KeepingItLowKey

We probably only get 1/4 of what we send, but I send anyway. I'm not sending to get something in return.

**Texas Gal**

We have a list of family and super close family friends (mainly family though) that we send even if some don't reciprocate. I think its a judgment call. There are some people on our current list that I think "why bother."

ondrea

we don't play the tit for tat kind of thing with Christmas cards.  last year we didn't send any out at all - I would hate to all of sudden not get any b/c of that....    There are some people that I don't send cards too after evaluating whether or not I even communicate with them throughout the year...   but I don't keep any sort of list or even know if I didn't get cards from some people. 

sara_c

My list is small- like 25 small.  I also don't receive a whole lot either. 

I send to good friends near and far and some family, but DH's extended family is not close at all (he has cousins he's only met once or twice) we don't send them b/c we barely know them.  They don't send to us either. 

I do not tit for tat, but if I haven't talked to you in the last year, you're off my list. 

goldenjes

We usually do somewhere around 100 cards.  Much of that is to family (mine is HUGE) and there are old friends that we may only talk to 1-2x a year.  We probably get 50 cards in the mail - I make a Christmas card wall with them every year. 

lite-bright

I just ordered another batch of cards last night because I thought our list was smaller than it is. :P

We only get about 20 cards each year. But we send out 50ish. The vast majority of the list are family members & therefore, kind of obligatory. I mean, we're not going to stop sending Christmas cards to our single brothers just because they don't send out any themselves.

I keep an address spreadsheet of who we send to each year, and who we get cards from, if cards get returned due to wrong addresses, etc. DH and I keep saying that we're going to stop sending cards to a few friends we never hear from, but so far, that hasn't actually happened. The only people who have dropped off have died, moved and we have no idea what their new address is, etc.

Kmac-06

We usually send New Year's cards, but this year I did Thanksgiving cards instead.

I enjoy getting photo cards from friends w/ kids and I assume they enjoy them too even if they don't have kids or send us a card, so they stay on the list. I don't usually include DH's single guy friends on our list. I do still send cards to people that don't reciprocate because I think a lot of people just don't send out holiday cards at all.

I usually send out 50 and I add/delete from the list to keep it about that number because I don't feel the need to increase it right now.

Sunflower22

KeepingItLowKey:

We probably only get 1/4 of what we send, but I send anyway. I'm not sending to get something in return.

This, except we probably get 75% of what we send in return. It doesn't bother me if we don't get one in return.

KeepingItLowKey

I send more to people we have lost touch with and family we don't see. I kind of use Christmas cards as the way to show that even if we've lost touch or don't see someone, we're thinking about them.

asilsjf

I haven't even reciprocated for the past two years, and I feel horribly guilty.  I'm sending them out this year because we're not in the middle of moving, which we almost always do in December (oh, how I love seasonal work!).

silly.goose

todds_wife:

(I do usually have "second string" cards - this year it will be cards I have collected leftovers from throughout the years with a pic of Coop stuffed in, instead of my super-cute custom photo cards - now I sound like Elaine trying to figure out if someone is "sponge worthy"...  4th cousin Eddie may have sent me a card, but he isn't getting one of my fancy ones!!)

OMG!  All I can think of is that Seinfeld episide where Elaine did the Xmas cards (I believe the episode was called "The Nip") and Geoge kept b!tching that he didn't get a card - she finally yells "YOU WANT A CARD?  I'VE GOT YOUR CHRISTMAS CARD RIGHT HERE!" and she grabs his face and shoves it into her boobs. 

Noah&ZachsMom

silly.goose:

todds_wife:

(I do usually have "second string" cards - this year it will be cards I have collected leftovers from throughout the years with a pic of Coop stuffed in, instead of my super-cute custom photo cards - now I sound like Elaine trying to figure out if someone is "sponge worthy"...  4th cousin Eddie may have sent me a card, but he isn't getting one of my fancy ones!!)

OMG!  All I can think of is that Seinfeld episide where Elaine did the Xmas cards (I believe the episode was called "The Nip") and Geoge kept b!tching that he didn't get a card - she finally yells "YOU WANT A CARD?  I'VE GOT YOUR CHRISTMAS CARD RIGHT HERE!" and she grabs his face and shoves it into her boobs. 

One of the best Seinfeld episodes ever!

ruby soho

I dont give to receive so it doesnt bother me to not get cards back.

We will most likely send a shitton this year since they will be birth announcements too and I know my mom will want me to send them to extended family

velocitygrl

I don't really pay attention to whether we get one back, though if someone sends us one, I try to reciprocate since I know some people get upset about it.  I love seeing pictures of old friends.  I like it best when I get to see the whole family.