Cutting the Cards

December 10, 2008

Cutting the Cards

Tis the second week of December and we should be full swing in holiday mode, but I'm not feeling the love. You see, usually the holiday cards start hitting my mailbox on Black Friday and I look forward each day as the cards trickle in. Me, I'm a slacker and have traditionally mailed them around the 20th of month. Late, I know - but my son's birthday is the 18th and I have to make it past that first. Ironically, this year we are more 'on the ball' - electing to celebrate the big guy's birthday in January instead. Our tree made it up the weekend after Thanksgiving and my holiday cards are printed and in the mid-stages of addressing. But, back to my mailbox. Relatively empty. Lately the only thing that has hit our mailbox is bills and junk-mail.

To date I've received two holiday cards. Two. And I find myself pondering - did I do something wrong? Have I been crossed off of everyone's card list because I didn't send out cards one year? Or is something else going on? I received a chain "junk" email from one of my friends that was a joke about sending an email card in lieu of a mailer.

But really, it didn't seem all that funny. It seemed to me like the spoof was actually pretty truthful from my barren archway that normally would be practically full by mid-December.

Is the age-old tradition of sending out holiday cards and letters a thing of the past?

When I ordered my holiday cards (online via Snapfish quick printed out at Walgreens an hour later - never been easier) I noted that the cost of my holiday cards was actually the cheapest that they have ever been. I can't help but think that this is because of the current state of the economy and the rise of the digital world with so many companies offering the same service that they have dropped the price down to just pennies a card. With what I spent it was almost as if they practically gave me my cards to send. Of course, the cost of postage is where my checkbook will feel more of a dent since each stamp is 42 cents. Postage alone for 100 cards is forty-two dollars. I estimate between postage, cards, and printing out some extra wallet sized photos for envelope stuffers my cost for holiday cards is around $100 dollars this year. It makes me look back to when I was in college, had spent all my money on stupid things, and went to Wal-Mart on Christmas eve and bought all my Christmas gifts for under a hundred bucks. And, now, this year - I will spend $100 on sending a holiday card with a picture of my children on it.

Still, as I sit on my sofa writing out addresses and sticking self-adhesive stamps on envelopes, I reflect. I fully understand and "get it" why people are cutting the cards this season and I'll try to not be as sad when I open my mailbox only to find bills.

Original New Jersey Moms Blog post by MaryTara. MT blogs her adventures in parenting two beautiful children on the Jersey Shore, life with autism & without it, the gluten & casein free diet, and vaccination choice issues at The Bon Bon Gazette.