Is this cheesy?

SereJane · December 2011

I want to get our Christmas letter written and printed today. My mom always writes an awesome one so I need to be creative.

this year has been so crazy busy it's hard to explain it all fully without getting boring.

I thought of doing "Our year in statuses" with some of our fb statuses throughout the year-they're about school, work, the wedding, our honeymoon, our newlywed adventures.

What do you think?

anna.oskar · December 2011

I think holiday letters in general are cheesy but maybe I just don't get it. They seem very AWish. i mean, If I know and love you and care.. wouldn't I already know everything that you could put in them?

Your idea certainly doesn't sound bad. I'm picturing it not in letter form but with little thought bubbles with each status maybe surrounding a pic of you two.

sarabear23 · December 2011

I don't think it's cheesy. If you pick the right ones, I think it would be cute!

Celles · December 2011

Honestly? Yes. I wouldn't do it. Anyone you're Facebook friends with has already seen those statuses, and anyone you're close enough to send a Christmas letter to but aren't friends with probably aren't on Facebook to begin with, and may not "get" it.

edielaura · December 2011

I like Anna's idea of pictures and bubbles, but maybe just write funny things instead of stati?

SereJane · December 2011

Celles:
Honestly? Yes. I wouldn't do it. Anyone you're Facebook friends with has already seen those statuses, and anyone you're close enough to send a Christmas letter to but aren't friends with probably aren't on Facebook to begin with, and may not "get" it.

That is a very good point.

I'm curious-how many people do/like Christmas letters?

kodakitty · December 2011

In general I find xmas newsletters to be braggy. Maybe it's just the tone of the one's I've been sent/read. Also I agree with Celles, anyone who is already FB friends with you has already seen those statuses.

kodakitty · December 2011

edielaura:
I like Anna's idea of pictures and bubbles, but maybe just write funny things instead of stati?

I like these ideas better. A cute little christmas comic! I think it would have a better tone than a traditional newsletter.

musicalsunlight · December 2011

I like the xmas letter from my grandparents since they brag about me. :P hah. I don't mind xmas letters too much as long as they don't make each kid/pet/person in the family sound like gods.

jcbsjr · December 2011

I do think they're kind of cheesy, tbh. However, a good friend of ours sends one and it's mainly bragging about her kids and what they've done. I'm ok with that b/c they're bragging about what others have done, not themselves. That may not make sense. Oh well. And, no, we don't do one. We're way too boring.

Seshat411 · December 2011

I've never sent or received a Christmas letter, so I have no opinion on them as far as being too braggy or whatever.

I like Anna's idea. It sounds more cutesy, whereas just listing the status updates could read kind of confusing and be too jumbled/bouncing around too much.

musicalsunlight · December 2011

I also think xmas letters were less redundant when social media wasn't so prevalent and people would actually not have any clue what you and your kids/family had been up to all year. Now if you have FB which so many people do, it is easy to keep up with people who live far away. But I still don't really mind them.

Celles · December 2011

I don't like Christmas letters. I know they're common in some circles, which is why I didn't say anything in my initial response, but I agree with everyone who perceives them as overly boastful and AWish.

Also, a Christmas letter caused major drama in my family that we still haven't fully recovered from. My cousin's wife (who comes from a family that does send letters) sent one a few years ago that described her newborn daughter as "the first girl born into the family in three generations!" It was true, but it was also perceived by some -- most notably my parents -- as a deliberate jab at me, since I was adopted into the family rather than born into it. I was actually a little hurt, but I didn't say anything; it wasn't worth the fight. However, my dad was furious, and ended up sending an e-mail to my cousin, asking that he and his wife be a little more sensitive about their word choice in the future because it hurts him to see me regarded as separate from the rest of the family. My cousins turned it around on my dad and said that he was insulting their daughter by insisting that his still "counted." Anyway, family members took sides and it escalated from there. I've been trying to smooth things over ever since (it was about me to begin with!), but things still aren't the same and my poor Grandpa passed away in the middle of it all.

TL;DR: I didn't like Christmas letters before, but I kind of hate them now.

reddy123 · December 2011

anna.oskar:
I think holiday letters in general are cheesy but maybe I just don't get it. They seem very AWish. i mean, If I know and love you and care.. wouldn't I already know everything that you could put in them?

Your idea certainly doesn't sound bad. I'm picturing it not in letter form but with little thought bubbles with each status maybe surrounding a pic of you two.

Anna pretty much read my mind about holiday letters. I think, in a way, FB has made the need for them that much more obsolete.

I get them from nearly everyone in my fam, but H's uncle takes the cake this year with a mock Newspaper and about 20+ stories with color photographs.

edielaura · December 2011

Celles:

I don't like Christmas letters. I know they're common in some circles, which is why I didn't say anything in my initial response, but I agree with everyone who perceives them as overly boastful and AWish.

Also, a Christmas letter caused major drama in my family that we still haven't fully recovered from. My cousin's wife (who comes from a family that does send letters) sent one a few years ago that described her newborn daughter as "the first girl born into the family in three generations!" It was true, but it was also perceived by some -- most notably my parents -- as a deliberate jab at me, since I was adopted into the family rather than born into it. I was actually a little hurt, but I didn't say anything; it wasn't worth the fight. However, my dad was furious, and ended up sending an e-mail to my cousin, asking that he and his wife be a little more sensitive about their word choice in the future because it hurts him to see me regarded as separate from the rest of the family. My cousins turned it around on my dad and said that he was insulting their daughter by insisting that his still "counted." Anyway, family members took sides and it escalated from there. I've been trying to smooth things over ever since (it was about me to begin with!), but things still aren't the same and my poor Grandpa passed away in the middle of it all.

TL;DR: I didn't like Christmas letters before, but I kind of hate them now.

Wow Celles. That wording probably would have bothered me too.

Nina0528 · December 2011

I have never gotten a Christmas letter, but tbh I would probably roll my eyes a bit. It could be because I've only heard them being discussed in a negative way (caused drama, bragging, etc). A regular Christmas card seems way less problematic!

kodakitty · December 2011

Oh wow, Celles. I can't believe someone would think that let alone write it out and send it to everyone. What an insensitive and *** comment.

Celles · December 2011

It was insensitive, but I don't think they meant it to be. It was more thoughtless than anything else. Thanks for commiserating with me -- and sorry! I didn't mean to threadjack!

I think if you do send a newsletter, I think you should keep it brief, light-hearted and fun. "This year, we perfected the art of slow-roasting marshmallows over a bunsen burner" is lot more entertaining to me than "First we got married, then we bought a car, and now we're looking at houses and thinking about adopting a pet iguana."

anna.oskar · December 2011

i'm sending you ALL Christmas letters next year. A huge brochure documenting a year in our married life.

Celles · December 2011

anna.oskar:
i'm sending you ALL Christmas letters next year. A huge brochure documenting a year in our married life.

Get a blog, kkthx.

anna.oskar · December 2011

Celles:
anna.oskar:
i'm sending you ALL Christmas letters next year. A huge brochure documenting a year in our married life.

Get a blog, kkthx.

Got one. Thanks! Maybe I'll send out Hanukkah letters from my blog.

edielaura · December 2011

Celles:
It was insensitive, but I don't think they meant it to be. It was more thoughtless than anything else. Thanks for commiserating with me -- and sorry! I didn't mean to threadjack!

I think if you do send a newsletter, I think you should keep it brief, light-hearted and fun. "This year, we perfected the art of slow-roasting marshmallows over a bunsen burner" is lot more entertaining to me than "First we got married, then we bought a car, and now we're looking at houses and thinking about adopting a pet iguana."

I like the lighthearted idea.

Blueyed228 · December 2011

WTF is a xmas letter?

anna.oskar · December 2011

sample letters: http://www.bemorehealthy.com/PersonalPagesFolders/ChristmasLetters.htm

usually printed on holiday paper

ricksang · December 2011

I don't get Xmas letters, is this a Northern thing?

anna.oskar · December 2011

ricksang:
I don't get Xmas letters, is this a Northern thing?

i think it's an individual family thing. We don't do it at all but I have letters from Alabama, Washington, Cali, Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Texas. So I wouldn't say it's a regional thing.

cew515 · December 2011

anna.oskar:

I think holiday letters in general are cheesy but maybe I just don't get it. They seem very AWish.

This. Sorry, Sere, but I've always hated Christmas letters. They make me uncomfortable and seem braggy to me.

Blueyed228 · December 2011

ricksang:
I don't get Xmas letters, is this a Northern thing?

Im pretty far north and never heard if this. I was going to ask if it was a southern thing lol.

SereJane · December 2011

Sorry that was a huge P&R. I guess I have gotten Christmas letters all my life and usually love reading them so I had no clue they were perceived in such a bad light! I ended up being too lazy to do one anyway.

Celles-I think I would hate them too in that case.

Blue-I agree with Anna, I think it's more of a family thing than a particular region.

Is this cheesy?

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