IABU re Christmas Cards!

[Potaytoe5]

Am I unreasonable to get rid of Christmas/ birthday cards after a few weeks of them being displayed?
Each time the topic comes up with MIL she insists they are meant to be kept. I also think she's absolutely OTT with the cards she sends. Each Christmas she posts each of DC and us a card, plus DBIL sends us 3 cards as well (he still lives with DMIL). So from their one household we get SIX cards, she posts - we see them a few times a month, so tend to give them one card from us all plus whatever the kids have drawn.

The cards she gets us are the big, glittery ones with a bow, they must cost about £5+ at least, more like £8. Kids get smaller cards but they still must cost a few pounds. I wouldn't get out old cards from years before to display, we get about 20 cards a year which is more than enough.

After Christmas I put them all in the bin without second thought. The only ones I keep were a few special cards from closest family and friends when the DC were born, the card I got from my DM for my 18th birthday with a special message inside, things like that.
DH is reluctant to bin them because of how strong DMIL feels about it, not sure if she's not offended I bin her cards! She never puts any special message in them btw, just 'Love from Grandma'.

YABU you should keep the cards, your heart is black as night!
YANBU no need to keep piles of generic cards, that's hoarding!

Just hand her them back. Recycle for next year!!

Would your dh want to keep them to be able to look at them again, or does he want to keep them as he fears his mum might do a spot check of your archive?

if he really wants to keep them for himself, then fine, it’s his house too. If he wants to keep them as he thinks his mum would be upset at you recycling them, then just don’t tell her.

Haha! I love your voting choices.

We turn ours into gift tags for the following year's presents.

They might just have a brief message but perhaps for her the design and the effort in choosing the card is what conveys the love and affection she has for all of you.

For some people, keeping a card is like keeping a part of the person close to you. I was really touched recently when I found out my late grandfather had kept every card I'd sent him after I left home and moved away. They obviously meant a lot to him. Perhaps as she gets older she feels it would be nice for you and your family to want to keep her close in that way and to remember her.

I do something really peculiar but it's due to the death of a family member a while ago, I tend to keep the birthday/Christmas cards we get then the next Christmas I throw them away and keep those ones. Only reason being that if someone happens to pass I want to have their writing/last card, and it does mean I have the last birthday and Christmas card my grandfather did me since starting doing that which I really appreciate!

Barring that however I have no interest in keeping any except perhaps some handmade ones from the littlest relatives

I love that idea but I think DMIL would not be pleased at cutting up her expensive cards!

It must cost your MIL a small fortune with all these cards at Xmas, but my DM was brought up to do this as well. I get the DC to recycle them into gift tags after Xmas. Do this with birthday cards too (unless it's a big birthday then I might keep them). Dont have space to save every single card though - theyd fill the loft after 20 years!

Could you keep the last year's in case it's her last and then bin them the following year when you get new one?

It's a sensible compromise between sentiment and hoarding.

I might keep them for a year, thank you, I never thought about keeping the card in case it's the 'last' one.
DMIL keeps them all in the loft, I'd worry it'll fall down on her eventually!
We don't have a big house and it'd quickly fill up if I kept all the cards from the last 15 years.

I get rid of Christmas cards now because I used to keep all the cards , I have a mountain of cards in the attic .I like the idea of keeping the previous years cards and dumping them the next year .

I do a sort of compromise on keeping for a year/making gift tags out of them. I put the cards away with the rest of the Christmas stuff.
When I get it all out the following year I cut up last years cards to make gift tags. So I keep them for a year then they are recycled.
I have one Christmas card from my DS which I have kept from several years ago as he wrote a beautiful message in it thanking me for my support over the year whilst he was going through a terrible time in his personal life.

I just bung all Christmas cards into the recycling bins the moment we take the decorations down, which is generally just before New Year. Your MIL would be horrified by me. 🤣

I don't send any Christmas cards and haven't for many years so thankfully we hardly receive any now.

My MIL was somewhat like yours sounds though in so much as she seemed to have kept a very large number of cards that she had been sent over the years. Many years. When we were clearing out her house we found sideboard and kitchen drawers totally stuffed with them.

I would keep the special cards but get rid of bog standard ones. Something for the kids to remember Granny when they are older. I wouldn't keep your own ones if you don't want to. I'd put the kids ones in a memory box. And only keep stuff that fits in otherwise it gets too much.

I think I might feel differently if there was anything handwritten in them other than 'Love Grandma'. It really doesn't feel all that special to me when there is no personal message inside.
Maybe I am just heartless!

I keep some cards, depending on who sent them - it’s not really a burden to add them to the shoebox-sized box I keep in the cupboard next to stationery and art supplies. Would that be an option? MIL is happy, and when she dies you all may actually all appreciate looking at them and having a mild laugh over how obsessive she was about her greetings cards.

I would not let anyone dictate to me what I did with Christmas or birthday cards I received, no matter how much they had spent. My house my rules.
By all means be diplomatic, but you do not have to do what she wants in your own home.

It sounds morbid, but I keep cards from anyone who might die soon. I bin the rest.

Me too

I used to keep them but never, ever looked at them again so they go in the bin now.

I absolutely hate receiving cards with glitter. I've still got glitter ingrained in my dining table from opening a card one fateful December 8 years ago.