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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to opt out of Christmas cards?

93 replies

abraid · 13/11/2008 10:40

I was thinking of only sending cards to elderly friends and relatives and people we can't easily email to wish a Happy Christmas.

This would partly be for credit crunch reasons and partly because I just can't face writing them.

Is this tight?

OP posts:

Hassled · 16/11/2008 11:25

I had a major cull of the Christmas card list a few years ago - and just send to elderly relatives/friends etc who wouldn't use email. It's surprisingly liberating - I no longer feel forced to write jolly messages to people I last saw at University and who actually I never really gave a shit about

jasper · 16/11/2008 19:50

cazzz completely agree with littlelady ( who made me laugh) about that sort of letter . it is difficult (impossible) to avoid smugness, unless you are really honest.

BarcodeZebra · 16/11/2008 20:43

I once banned my staff from sending them to each other. There were 50 of them and I worked out that it was 2450 cards. All for people that you see all the time. (And don't much like).

goreousgirl · 16/11/2008 20:45

We started doing email cards with a few family pics over the year, and cards for elderly relatives. We put on the cards that we would donate a little of the money we saved to charity and put £10 in the MacMillan box - made us feel better, but as you say, no one noticed really!

Albertsmum · 16/11/2008 20:59

We send cards to people we don't see often and this might be the only contact with them each year and also always to older relatives.

The thing that really annoys me is when people send you a card and they just write to x, love y. No news, no sentiment nothing. Why bother? If I am sending one then it is a mini-letter as an earlier poster says and not just one more crossed off a list of thousands.

And my second bug bear is the whole school cards thing. Why? My oldest is only in year 1 but I just think it is bonkers.

wonderwoman73 · 16/11/2008 21:02

The last few years I've sent an xmas email to most people and given £30 - £40 (the amount I estimated I'd have spent on cards and postage) to charity. I've told people in the email where the money's going and if they've got a problem with it I think that's very sad!

MrsNormanMaine · 16/11/2008 22:56

Agree with mersmum and london. I send them, DD1 loves making them and so do I - we sit in a cloud of glue and glitter listening to Christmas music. Also write individual personal messages in all of them and love receiving them too - we get loads so must be in a circle of old fashioned types.

Also the children write or dictate thankyou letters for all presents and parties they go to and it seems to be appreciated. We get them too although not from everyone. Aren't we simply wonderful?

mears · 16/11/2008 23:29

Jasper - I am saddened every year when you do not send me a card, especially since your sister does

Only kidding!

jasper · 16/11/2008 23:55

Mears! Are you still alive?

Do you remember what happened 8 years ago today?

jasper · 16/11/2008 23:56

My sister is a far nicer person than me. You know that!

She also has much more free time and a richer husband

mears · 17/11/2008 00:02

OMG - Is it 8 years ago today since DD was born? I am as useless at dates as you are!

I remember it like yesterday

mears · 17/11/2008 00:13

yesterday even

Seasonofgoodwill · 05/12/2009 17:02

I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. They are a colourful way to brighten up the winter while spreading goodwill. They are recyclable too.

Why do people single out Christmas cards as being a "waste of card"? There are so many other ways to save paper or card throughout the year, such as not buying a newspaper one weekend, not printing out so many documents, not buying cardboard-wrapped food, or joining the MPS to reduce junk mail.

Does it really make sense to buy/use/consume various not-strictly-necessary things during the rest of the year, and then suddenly decide that Christmas cards are wasteful? Shouldn't the things which bring good cheer to others be the last things to go, not the first?

Kaloki · 05/12/2009 17:15

I don't send Xmas cards (my grandad will probably get one as I'm not able to get to see him), partly because I think it's silly to send something which will most likely not be looked at for more than a split second, is generic, will be binned rapidly, and in my case, is irrelevant as I don't celebrate Xmas anyway.

CheerfulYank · 05/12/2009 17:21

I like to send Christmas cards as it's the only time during the year I can get DH to put on a decent shirt and be in a family picture. A lot of my friends don't send them though, and I'm not offended or anything. So, YANBU if it's not one of your priorities. Who cares? It's nice of you to send them to elderly people who will really appreciate them.

ifnotwhynot · 05/12/2009 18:36

YANBU at all. What I have done for teh last few years is send a charity e-card. I see that as a win/wing option: very green, a charity gets some benefit and friends receive something a bit different! I do send a few, though, to oldies not on email and a couple of more traditional friends!

golgi · 05/12/2009 19:09

My mum has a ridiculous Christmas card list - loads of relatives and people she hasn't seen for years.

I only send them to elderly relatives.

Work do a charity collection instead.

AliGrylls · 05/12/2009 19:24

I don't send many christmas cards anymore. It is a combination of thinking it is a waste of paper and laziness.

I just send to a few people who always send to me and I don't see much.

In fact I actually hate sending cards.

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