To hate smug round robins at this time of year

[lastqueenofscotland]

Seriously, do people really think I give a shit if their insufferable teenager passed their GSCEs, their vile adult children haven't been fired from their jobs or their toddlers have successfully mastered the art of occasionally shitting in a potty.

Why do people send these? Does anyone care? Surely they are only the object of ridicule?

I have never received a round robin. I feel slightly disappointed. I always look forward to the MN threads about them though.

I think my MIL may have done one in the past, but she can't write so well now, so probably doesn't any more. I imagine it was full of oversharing about us and the DC. As she tells her friends all sorts of information that they don't need to know about us.

This thread is hilarious 😂

DH’s grandparents used to do this, I looked forward to it every year. They were very fond of using inverted commas for no reason and every year would write something like ‘Mr Lookingfor is still writing his ‘comedy’’ - he’s been a successful comedy writer for ten years! 😂

They also cut out previews of shows he’s worked on (always from the Telegraph) and send them to him.

Actually now I’m really really feeling sad that we don’t get these any more. They’re too old and poorly now. :(

Haha! people really do this?!

I have a friend who sends one.

I don't mind too much as I like to know whats gone on & it is written in an amusing way, although the braggery does show through.

But as a pp put, I hate that she cba to personalise it at all.

Do people still do this? I vaguely recall my parents receiving them, but I've never been sent one as an adult myself. My PIL are big on the round robin circuit actually.

I do look forward to the MN ones though

lookingfor and thanks for the smile, I do love the 'inverted' commas.

My childhood best friend and I used write comedy ones to eachother about made up gloating families.

Usually included a multilingual 3 year old and a complaint about the quality of fortnums Christmas hampers

Are the mn Janet and Roy round robins still a thing?

When we got married much was made of me being a ‘Roman Catholic’ - even though I last went to mass at the age of about ten and am a paid up member of the BHA!! They are obsessed with my Irish lineage!

My sister sends one because she lives abroad.

DSis is, ahem, "good with money" shall we say or tight as a gnat's chuff. She is otherwise a lovely, kind, funny, clever, generous person. But DH pointed out a couple of years ago about how she talks about money all the time in the RR, and now I notice it too. It can be telling . . . one year she was saying about how DNiece was struggling to do her degree and work at the same time, getting mega stressed through tiredness and overwork. Later she mentioned how DNiece's job was great as she had managed to pay all her Uni Fees . . . The elephant in the room was "so why didn't you pay a bit? You can afford it, then DNiece could have had a bit more time to study."

This year she apologised for sending us all crap Christmas cards (they weren't, they were perfectly nice). She went on to explain that it wasn't that she couldn't be bothered to buy us nice ones but she had been to three shops and these were the best ones and she was too lazy to go to any more shops. So, yeah, you couldn't be bothered to buy nicer ones, you've just bloody said it!

I have received two so far this year.One from a friend of DH's who is married to a very accomplished woman and although the whole thing is written in the third person it is filled with him boasting lovingly about how great she is. (Although come to think of it-maybe she writes it herself... hmmmm).

The other one was from a distant cousin. He is very very very proud of one son. The RR had 3 paras detailing all this son's achievements, and the achievements of the family, including that two of the children are models. Then a single sentence about the daughter saying 'XX is still working at...' and that is it. I don't know any of them at all, but every year DH and I ask each other how that poor girl can stand being so overlooked by her DParents.

We call it the RR about 'My son the christ child and the missing sister'

DH’s grandparents never used to mention my DSiL to anything like the extent they mentioned DH. They’d include her as an afterthought with a sentence like ‘DSiL continues as usual, and seems very happy’ - which is upsetting for DSiL at first but made her howl with laughter after about five years.

I have family all over the world.
Before email and social media, they were the only way to stay in touch.
We always did them up till broadband meant we could email pictures to people.
And I loved receiving them from friends and family.
Because we all did them we all knew what level of bullshit detector to apply.

Some were very, very funny.
But I do miss them.

The worst ones are the ones aiming for being modest or self-deprecating

"This year we decided we would focus on family so the children pared back activities to just 2 each, David gave up several of his board memberships (not all!) and that crazy schedule I usually manage became just a little easier. Josh missed his piano and flute lessons but still loves playing violin in the school orchestra. Sophie appreciated that not doing lacrosse meant she could have dinner with us all once a week and was free to focus on her varsity hockey and soccer. We all had time to pause and really stay in the moment as a family. For christmas we are going to help out at a Haitan orphanage instead of our usual ski trip to Oregon"

(that is almost word for word from last years from a particular family)

“DBiL seems to be really enjoying his ‘hand gliding’”

“We were fortunate to have lunch at the celebrated inn once patronised by ‘Charles Dickens’”

God I miss those inverted commas.

PILS get one every year from a cousin. Last year it was 7 A4 pages, back and front. I shit you not.

It contained details of her (adult) DD's accomplishments, including her 'out of this world salads'.

My mother's cousin sends round robins and we have always enjoyed decoding them. He's the type who is very keen to let you know how WELL he is doing and how very RICH he is, that sort of thing (except we know that he isn't, really!).
We reckon that "Freda is now enjoying early retirement" meant "Freda's boss caught her drinking at work and sacked her" etc. We also enjoy replying and asking who all the very famous people he knows are (he lives abroad so often they generally aren't people we have heard of).
In his case, it's all a bit desperate and attention-seeking, but if you don't take any of it seriously it's fine.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/Christmas/2213210-Janet-Roy-mystery-round-robin

I fucking LOVE round Robins!
I'm really looking forward to hearing what me and DH, and BIL etc.. have been up to through the eyes of my MIL, plus we get some excellent ones from MILs friends. How else would I keep up to date on Archibald's wedding preparations and the list of countries young Tabitha visited on her gap year?

Can't wait!

i sent one to my dh step dad last year but the differance is we are estranged due to a family tragedy but he still sends the kids money at birthday and xmas so i feel i should let him know how they are doing i just got his cards to the kids today so i will have to send him another

I wonder if I should take up the Round Robin mantle from DH’s grandparents...

I'm so jealous I've never received one. I did think of penning a spoof one, and then I had a glass of wine and forgot.

Mine would go something like, Darling oldest Cherub constructed a marvelous 3d artwork on her bedroom wall entirely out of her own boogers, while Darling younger Cherub still refuses to mix cereal with milk, and obsessively insists on the cereal being to the left of the milk. Such fun!