Christmas card etiquette

[PlayNoBill]

Its 1st December, I feel I can talk/think about Christmas now.

Christmas card etiquette - I have a list of 113 family friends and work colleagues. I want to half that! I am very OCD so have rated them priority 1, 2, 3. 1 if must send family and close friends but I want to slash all priority 3 cards who are neighbours from our old house (we moved 3 years ago!) and work colleagues I barely say hello to!

What is he etiquette though. If I am going to give cards to 4 people at work, should I send them to the other 20? Should I send a card to Jayne and George even though I have not seen them in 3 years since we moved house? Should you give a card if you have received one? I certainly don't get one for every one I send!

My new policy is that I don't send them to anyone who I see in the period from roughly mid December to New Year. These people I wish a Happy Christmas in person anyway. I save the Christmas card writing for people I don't see. The only exception is my grandmother!

The list has become quite small now.

I've kept last year's cards & just gone through my "sending" list, deleting those who don't send me any! Exceptions are elderly relatives.

I only give 2 out of 40 colleague's cards and I post them to their homes. Luckily there is no culture of card giving at my work.

At work can you get one of the large charities cards that you put up in the staff room. Everybody who wants to signs the large card and donates money to charity.

Waste or money, waste of paper.
My kids send one to gp each year which is hand made by them.... glitter in the house for months afterwards!
I'd love to send cards to everyone I know but it's just not feasable, so I cut them all out

I just send cards to my favourite people (and not all of them as I don't want them to feel obligated to return a card) and then people who send me because I like to think I can be polite. tbh my generation only send cards to old people or those in different countries.

You could just send one card to the whole work team as a whole?

I only do Christmas cards for immediate family, I thank anyone who gives me a card and tell them we only do immediate family. In previous years I've also made a donation to charity or given money to someone who is homeless but it's not necessarily the amount I would spend on cards and postage if DH and I sent cards to everyone like we used to.

tin of sweets of biscuits for work colleagues rather than cards (which always get left in desks etc).

Haven't sent them for around 20 years now.

also unless it is an elderly relative, if I haven't received a card for a couple of years I don't bother to send one.

Haven't sent them for around 20 years now

It's not just me then.

I do buy a box of biscuits or chocolates to hand round at work or leave in the kitchen.
Also keep a few cards in case a neighbour puts one through the door,
then I will send them one in return, but I'm not proactive.
I haven't sent one through the post for decades.

I don't buy xmas presents for adult relatives either, but that's another thread. Or another half a dozen threads possibly.

I stopped sending cards to anyone I was buying a present for.

And anyone I hadn't spoken to in the previous year (not sulks! Just lack of contact - exception a few rellies for whom I would enclose a decent length persona letter too).

I took a big tin of sweeties into work instead of cards to anyone there.

I got a list down from over 100 to a much more manageable (and meaningful) 30-40.

Oh, and DH does all his relatives/friends now. Suspect none of them have had cards for 3+ years when I started pruning and told him to sort out his side.