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Original poster

Round Robins - yes or no?

139 replies

morningpaper · 05/12/2006 21:28

I think Round Robins are massively under-rated!

I USED to do them but I don't anymore because they are The Height Of Naff.

Instead I send a photo of the children.

I have 120 cards to write and I can't possibly write a note in each one.

What is the solution?

OP posts:
ScummyMummy · 07/12/2006 00:23

no
spoof ones can be funny though

mrsSnoah · 07/12/2006 00:31

My round robin for 2006 will contain a hair theme

Mr Noah: losing more hair

Mrs noah: getting hairier

dd1: is now a 9yr old Gothling and wants dye her hair black but as Mr Noah will not allow this, hates us all

dd2: has hair

ds: slightly more hair than his father but still not enough to convince others that he is not bald.

Dog1: leaving hair on the sofa

dog2: Ate a hare from under the hedge(And you think I am kidding?)

Cat1: lost clumps of hair on thurs when attacked on stairs by dog2

Cat2: We havent got a cat 2

GiraffeGotTheLastRoomInTheInn · 07/12/2006 00:35

Am I the only one who doesn't know anyone who sends these things?

I would LOVE to get these crap offerings and snigger over them, but no. I have boring friends and family, obviously.

mrsSnoah · 07/12/2006 00:36

Giraffe I will send you one!
Have mine...

GiraffeGotTheLastRoomInTheInn · 07/12/2006 00:37

I've already read it......

Original poster
morningpaper · 07/12/2006 09:20

I suppose they are really a remnant from pre-email days

It IS hard to keep up with people that aren't on email - I haven't been able to make a phone call for five years without being disturbed by a screaming child

I think that Round Robins are very useful for people who aren't on email

OP posts:
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 07/12/2006 09:36

I think if it is even slightly tongue in cheek it goes down a lot better. But the main problem is that if you wanted to stay in contact, you would do just that.

It is the huuuuuuuuuge assumption that the other person is more interested in you than you are in them, because you clearly haven't asked them personally about their news.

And if you get one year after year, to an address you don't live at any more, it is so arrogant. You could be dead for chrissakes and they are still sending you the epistle.

spinasnowflake · 07/12/2006 10:29

My parents friend used to send us one and it was fab!Really fab,not Upthemselves lets laugh at them fab. Beautifully written,etc

I wrote one once and now cringe in horror at the stuff I wrote.(no kids to brag about at time,but very impersonal-i'm one of those people who is awful at keeeping in touch and tried to cram a year's worth of crap contact into an a4 piece of paper)

However I get an annual one from a friend I've seen twice in the last ten years(we both got married!) She details not only her own family achievements but the list of social events she has been to(other peoples weddings,bbqs,etc ) and then sends them to the people who she has probably seen at these events.News?

I think done well and sent to the correct people(elderly rellies for example) they can be quite sweet, but when you get a mirror image of a year in your life and it reads as pretty Y A W N, then you know you either need some new hobbies or "friends".

RosaLuxembourg · 07/12/2006 13:07

JanH
I think the PIL were a bit suspicious but we loudly proclaimed innocence. Don't know who did it, wish I did though. I feel bad because they are really very nice people - just completely oblivious to how the letter actually comes across.

Pruni · 07/12/2006 15:20

Message withdrawn

WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 08/12/2006 10:10

I am seriously tempted to do one this year as an ironic gesture. I can't decide whether it would be better to make it visiby tongue in cheek, or to put on apparent sincerity to make it funnier.

The danger is that someone somewhere won't get the joke and will forever file my name under "Egotistical idiots" in their address book.

2000milestoeidsvold · 19/12/2006 05:07

i got three today - one was fab - quite funny friend sharing her experiences at work - hilarious with things kids say.

one from friends who I have not been able to catch up with as they have been travelling - great to read about the fabulous places they visited.

one from a friend that was so-so but still good to catch up with.

suedonim · 19/12/2006 22:06

I had a RR yesterday where I'm sure the author had had rather more than the usual amount of Christmas spirit. It was one of those very general RR's in that plenty of her friends had died but fortunately, I didn't know any of them.

Another one today was unintentionally comical. The writer's brother got married this year. Apparently, it was quite a surprise to everyone because he is 49yo and still lived with their father - "No one in the family would have put money on him ever getting married."

And I feel I should quote the last para in full. "If any of you are wondering why there haven't been any references to the running and cycling events we usually take part in, it's just because there has been so much else to tell and we don't want to make this note too long. That part of our lives has continued as normal, subject to the constraints imposed by the various injuries we have had."

JanH · 19/12/2006 22:23

We have some local friends we haven't seen much of this year, so we were given the benefit of their round robin which we have never seen before - 3 A4 pages, quite closely typed (with a few small photos) and almost entirely about them, their parents and their musical activities - they have 4 children, all of whom have led quite interesting lives this year, and the children only get a small paragraph each

(Quite tempted to send to Simon H only I think he has stopped collecting them now )

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