To think that round robins...

[MrsMooo]

are an exersize in nothing but middleclass smugness and to think that anyone who sends me one should be taken out and shot?

I am so so so sick of the "look, aren't our lives fabulous and funfilled smug smug smugety smug" I may vom next time I am forced to read one

And to be honest, if you had to include it in a letter in my Christmas card for me to know about it we obviously aren't in touch or maintaining our friendship, quite possibly for a reason

Actually I am really sad that I have never received one

They are poncy, but I would think really amusing to receive. I really would like one!

I am feeling a sense of De Ja Vu (sp) here, did I read this thread somewhere before?

I think it depends.

A family friend gives a brief update on the family's activities and it's nice. A few people my parents know send out two sides of A4 listing their achievements. Not so nice...

I get one from friends of ours who live down the road

they are the nicest people in the world and not remotely poncy. He is a bit odd, but so am I and so are most of our friends

I would never write one in a million years, but I don't agree that they are always about middle-class showing off or being smug. Everyone interacts differently. I don't think less of my friends for doing one, although I will admit to a snigger or two when reading it

I think they're often quite funny - especially the braggy ones.

Facebook / blogs can be worse IMO

yanbu - no way would I ever want to bore others with the mundane details of my existence. And if I ever thought someone might want to hear them I'd have the decency to write a personalised note in the Christmas card, not a printed itinerary of bragging.

They are either

1. Long and boring with waaay too much detail
2. Quirky and full of in-jokes that no-one who receives them can understand
3. Smuggity smug
4. Twee beyond human comprehension
5. Miserable
6. 90% bullshit
7. Slightly crazy
8. Quite nice, actually.

So there you have it. There is not much chance your RR will be any good, so just write a couple of lines in your card saying you are well, hope recipient is well, and wouldn't it be nice ti soend some time together next year?

To be honest, if I know my friends' kids well enough to be interested in their piano exams, O Level grades, trip to hospital to have their tonsils out, then I don't need a round robin to find all this out because presumably I see them on a regular basis.

If I only hear from someone once a year, then presumably I hardly know their kids and couldn't care less am not really that interested in what they've been up to .