AIBU to think that the annual Christmas Card tradition is dying out?

[EverySongbirdSays]

I'm 35 and it feels like Christmas Cards are becoming a thing of the past

More and more now people will just status update on Christmas day

"Merry Christmas to all etc"

Buying, writing and posting 50+ Christmas Cards just seems like so mus effort and a waste of paper and money.

There was I think in the past a lot of nostalgia value around cards relatives or friends you mightnt have seen in years, and you were pondering to yourself 'I wonder how Louise is? Gosh those were the days in uni, I'll send a card at Christmas and she'll know I still think of her"

Only with Facebook culture I don't need to ponder how Louise is, I know she's teaching in Herts and has a baby.

I had a brief chat yesterday with an old friend I haven't seen in over a decade who lives in London as she had just been to see a film. There isn't that sense of urgency to send a card just to keep in touch.

Of course I'll hand out a couple of cards to my immediate/closest friends and family, and a few coworkers, but I'll probably d less than 10. Not loads as I might've done with people I don't really see if not for the invention of Facebook.

It does seem a shame that it's a dying tradition but I'm not too bothered as it does feel quite wasteful in some ways.

AIBU?

[KarenLF]

It's totally dying out - there's just no point as you know how everyone is because of Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat etc. Plus the price of stamps has gone up and it's just a waste of paper as the cards sit there for a month then they just get thrown in the bin as there's no way I'd keep them forever?!!
I give to my closest family but I just put a status on Facebook at the start of December saying not to bother sending to me as me and my DH aren't and instead we donate £30-40 to charity and give food to the local foodbank - much better!

[Fiderer]

Am v glad people don't do them here in Forrin. When my children were little they were always astonished at many my parents got. They used to count them, 150-200. Mind you, useful distraction. Got them to make their own while I swigged wine.

Bizarre for my children, loads of work for my parents. My dad had a special list and when he died my mum was cursing it, took her ages to find, she always struggled to read his handwriting (as did we all) and would happily have reduced it to just family and friends she rarely if ever sees. She says "Oh no, now that bloody idiot has sent one I have to send one back."

But even she gets fewer now as many people are, in her words, "Dropping like flies." So not just social media then

[expatinscotland]

Wasteful and far too much money to post.

[Mindtrope]

Sparklesilverglitter! Yes. I am with you on that one. Writing christmas cards is a pleasure. I buy them from a friend who makes beautiful gold leaf embossed Yule cards, sit down on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of something alcoholic, a few festive candles or some christmas music and write my cards.
It's something I love doing, it's very far from a chore, it;s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours.

[notangelinajolie]

I send 4 cards at Christmas. Not family, just to our neighbours from our family to theirs.

[MistressMolecules]

I'm tight, I re-use our cards each year (apart from last year as we had a new baby so had to refresh all the cards!) oh and I don't do that for birthdays just christmas. I don't send them to anyone else - I occasionally send my Mum one but she whinges if it is too big. Oh and if you don't send one to my Nanna then you are basically going to burn in hell - unfortunately I have 3 years of cards here that I forgot to give , I'm going to hell. Oh well!

[ChocolateWombat]

I will post about 40 cards. The psiatge does add up, much more than the cards themselves...but those cards are just about keeping me in touch with some people from the past, who I'd be sad to totally lose touch with. I'm not on Facebook and don't really want to be, so I don't begrudge the £40 it costs to get the cards and send them out.

I try not to give them to people I see on a regular basis as seems a waste of time. Will hand deliver a few to people who are local that I don't get to see much - quite enjoy going for a walk round the town with DD after schools have broken up and hand delivering, sometimes popping in for a coffee with people if they are in when I'm delivering.

[Mrscog]

I do send cards but only to people I won't see over Christmas - so about 15 to distant relatives, friends etc. I definitely don't buy into the dishing out 20 cards around the office culture.

DS has just started Primary School....am I going to have to do them for his class? thank god it's only 17 children

[Topseyt]

I suppose I will get a cheap pack for DD3 (now 14) to give out to her school friends, but will have nothing else at all to do with them.

I send two cards otherwise, as I said previously. They go to my elderly and non-technology user parents, and I also like to send to my sister because we hardly ever see each other.

[Bedsheets4knickers]

I've stopped cards also . Really can't be bothered no more

[Kirriemuir]

I only send to immediate family now. Make a donation to the local food bank and buy a decent chunk of cheese with the rest.

[Thingsthatmakeugoummmm]

Deteste Christmas cards. I won't put any up at home. Why would you send a work colleague a Christmas card when you see them every day??

[pinkunicornsarefluffy]

I only send Christmas cards now to people that live away that I won't see. Everyone else gets a facebook message, or a text on Christmas Day. The ones that are away aren't on facebook either, so they get a photo of DD too.

[ChocolateWombat]

I feel a bit disappointed that the no of cards we get declines a bit each year....understand why.
However, I also feel a bit sad to go into a house (esp a family home) and only see 3 or 4 cards up, near to Christmas. I know it doesn't mean people haven't got friends, but somehow it just looks a bit like that....because the trend against sending has accelerated so rapidly. It's a generation thing though....my parents and inlaws will receive up to 200 still and kids at school still send lots.

[AcrossthePond55]

I started whittling down my list a few years ago, crossing off anyone that hasn't sent a card for 2 consecutive years. I exclude elderly relatives as I know how much my mum loves getting cards even though she isn't able to send them. I'm now down to 18 cards from around 60 at the beginning of the 'whittling down'.

I do enjoy the 'tradition' and even love getting those silly Xmas letters. They're a real hoot. Especially when you know that 'Junior has recently moved back home' means 'Junior's been released from jail and has been paroled to our address' or 'Sissy has moved into another field' means 'Sissy's given up stripping as a career'. Love my DH's extended family!!!

[AnotherBoringUsername]

I love xmas cards but i don't tend to get many ,same with birthday cards.My birthday is close to Christmas and for some reason my db thinks it's acceptable to send one card and write 'happy birthdaymas' in it so one card covers both occasions

[LarrytheCucumber]

Oh I do hope so!

[phoenix1973]

Agreed.
I haven't bothered my arse for years. I don't expect any either.
However, Dh and I argue every year. He demands that I sit and write his out with a glitter gel pen, no less😂.
Every year I say NO and he gets a right strop on.🙄
One day, he will need the pen removed by a proctologist

[instantly]

I hate cards.

Hate sending, hate receiving. They blow over in a draught and I never have enough surfaces to display them, so these days I just chuck any I get in the bin.

Sometimes I keep a pack in so I can write one back if I get any, but it defeats the point really.

Just a chore.

[clary]

Agree and thank goodness.

I used to make loads with the kids (was a nice crafty thing to do!), then started just buying lots, but have cut down and down with no serious issues!

DH said of some remote family member (of his!!) that I said I wasn't sending a card to "well, you might not get one from them" - fine by me!

Now I literally send about half a dozen, to aged relatives (fewer each year) and one or two to far-flung friends who are not on FB. That's all. None to colleagues, none to local mates. DC (all teenagers) don't even send any/many, even 15yo DD.

What a relief. Writing them all was such a burden! I just put a FB message to everyone I know - or say Happy Christmas when I see them.

[Jaxhog]

Wow! I still send over a hundred, and get the same back. With messages and everything.

Is it a generational thing?

[blitheringbuzzards1234]

I send fewer as the years go by, the price of stamps hasn't helped. Also I try to buy just a few from Cards for Good Causes which operates in many of our larger towns as a huge percentage actually goes to the charities concerned.
The mantelpiece just wouldn't look the same without them.

[BarbaraAtTheGardenParty]

I think it's sad that people don't send them in this digital age. I still do, but most people I know in my age group (late twenties to early thirties) just write a Facebook status update. I also send thank you cards which is unusual. I like the cosiness of sitting listening to Christmas songs in a warm house, writing cards with a nice message!

[SweetChickadee]

I stopped - last year was the first I didn't send any

We live overseas, so they cost a fecking fortune to send them back to the UK, and I have to write them in November, which is not very festive

[expatinscotland]

The postage is extortionate, at a time when our budget is stretched.