to be a bit sad that Christmas cards are going out of fashion

[Daisysbear]

I don't seem to get that many any more. Lots of people just send a text or an email.

AIBU to think loads of cards on the mantle piece look really Christmassy and texts and messages just aren't the same?

Another xmas card hater here! Think of all the trees that could be saved if everyone stops doing them!

I love that they're dying out.

This will be year 4 for us of not sending or giving any cards, and many of our friends do the same now. Any cards we do get are shoved in a drawer and then recycled. I hated having them cluttering up the place.

It's very liberating to put a stop to it.

I like getting a nice Christmas card, I appreciate it very much. I always send them too.

You are my kind of person DickDewy! I hide them too or file them in bin named recycling!

Yanbu! It's one of those things I just find it impossible to get my head around - that people can dislike Christmas cards! Because they are a nuisance or too much clutter? It was an utterly alien concept to me until I someone saying that on Mumsnet a couple of years ago.

I absolutely love Christmas cards. Apart from the tree and Christmas day itself, I'd say they are the best part of Christmas and I am genuinely sad about the fact that we receive fewer and fewer year on year .

Not out of fashion with me. I have today just posted 85. I spent the afternoon writing them yesterday, with my Xmas music on and a nice glass of sherry and mince pie or two at my side.

Do people object to homemade cards too? We usually put a bit of effort into making about a dozen cards each year and enjoy doing it.

I started a thread in chat asking when we're people posting there cards and got two replies. Granted it's a boring question but could be a sign not many care doing them.

I was very tempted to not bother this year as I'm ill but in the end just wrote them. They're waiting to be posted.

*were their

I like to send them, and I like to get them.

I send them to family, although if it's family we're going to see a lot of over Christmas I get DS to make a card for them rather than buy one.

This year I'm planning to take his photo for him to stick on the front and he can glue himself a cotton wool ball beard onto it.

Most of the family is far away though, so a card is usually the most contact we get over christmas.

And I like to make sure some of the neighbours get a card. We have an older gentleman living next door, he's in his 80's with no immediate family, so he doesn't get many cards. We buy him a present too, and make sure he comes round a couple of times for coffee and mince pies and a chat.

And there's a lady on her own down the street, she's mostly deaf so when we see her the conversation is one-sided, she shouts at us a lot but doesn't really hear much back. She once shouted that she's lonely, she doesn't see much of her son, she can't speak to people on the phone anymore because she can't hear them properly.

We just like to make sure that people who might be a bit lonely know that someone cares.

I always loved cards when I was little, I was especially fond of close up's of holly with berries and snow on it, and images of the three kings. DS seems to be the same, he sorted through my box of cards last year and chose the ones that were "too nice to send away" and wrote them himself to me, DH, himself, both dogs, and various stuffed toys.

I do send thank you cards to people I know value them, but I am loving you lot for making me realise I don't have to do Christmas cards - yippee! I cannot bear the clutter (I "display" birthday cards in one pile with a ribbon round them, and usually last about three days before they get recycled). The postage costs are painful too. I'll still do a handful of Christmas ones to people who'd be hurt otherwise, but it's brilliant to decide that the days of trawling through a whole list are now over.

I love sending them - sitting down to write them all is part of my Christmas tradition and I genuinely enjoy taking a few minutes per card to think about the person/family and make sure the message is as meaningful as it can be. A lot of the cards I send are to extended family who I rarely see, so it's a nice way to let them know I'm thinking of them when lots of contact throughout the year would be a bit pointless since I'm just not that close to my family.

Thinking about it though I don't really care about receiving cards at Christmas - so many seem to be just token gestures, with little or no thought put into them. I'd prefer not to receive one than to receive one just because someone wants to tick that particular chore off their list.

So I don't think YABU to feel a bit sad that the tradition is declining but I think at the end of the day it's the thought that counts and I'd much prefer to have some genuine, heartfelt gesture - even if it's a text or email (which can open up a conversation, whereas a card is less likely to do that these days) than to have a multi-pack card sent just because someone thought they should.

I like Christmas Cards

Hygge You sound like a very lovely person.

I've read the thread properly now and decided this is the last year I'm sending them. I said this hesitantly last year but have given in but this time I mean it. The cards were £20-30 and the stamps about £29. That's ridiculous. I caved this year as my DM was a bit but not again. I like getting them but I've seen the light now.

The stamps were about £20 not £29.

Here you go Hygge [santa]

Of course YABU. They're an environmental disaster.

Thank you Wagglebees

Just my sort of christmas cards.

I don't post half as many Christmas cards as I used too. The price of stamps put me off. I don't get nearly as many as I used too as well which is fine by me. I keep any homemade cards as I appreciate the time and effort gone into making them and probably the enjoyment too. Shop bought ones end up in the bin.