The Christmas Letter: Love It or Hate It?
Confession: If you sent me a Christmas letter this year, I have probably only skimmed it. Sorry. I know, I know, I’m an awful friend and an even more awful family member. But, really? I just chatted with you on Facebook like yesterday so I can’t imagine that too much has changed.
I will admit that I’ve considered writing a Wick Family Christmas letter but I think it would be really boring… I still work every day, Jesse is still the cutest husband ever, our kids are still funny and challenging and adorable, blah, blah, blah…
All that said, we look forward to getting a Christmas letter from my husband’s cousin Sherry and her husband Joe EVERY year. That’s the letter in the picture, and yes it is four pages long. Trust me, it’s worth the read. It is hysterical! Sherry is sweet and sentimental and catches us up on all the family business (which I appreciate because they live in California. Boo!) and Joe, well, Joe’s contribution is to mock the entire thing with comments such as:
… It was midnight on a quite summer night. Matt was behind the wheel of his pickup and Katie was behind the truck pushing. I’ll never forget it. As they disappeared into the silent fog Katie struggled to keep the truck moving, Matt was imploring her to work harder and the only other sound was the haunting clinking of the neighbors’ patio furniture in the bed of the truck.
Or even better:
Due to medical conditions, Sherry gave up the consumption of cheese.
Classic. And it gets funnier. Joe and Sherry have figured out the secret to a good letter: lots of humor and variety. If you guys are reading, thanks again for our annual holiday laugh. We love you both.
So, I’m curious… what’s your take on holiday letters? Love em or hate em?
P.S. I bet @reallifesarah writes a killer holiday letter. Just a hunch.
I agree, Nicole. As long as a letter has humor and variety (and color and pictures) I’m all for reading a Christmas letter – I’m like a little kid: I need stimulation. But if you’re writing solely for the purpose of showing off that you had time and energy to write a Christmas letter: just send me a Christmas Card. cynical? probably! lol!
Happy Holidays!
Nicole
@tinadancindiva
Nicole – Totally agree (but I am cynical). Lots of pictures are a plus.
Amy left a comment on Facebook about this post but I thought it was woth repeating. I’m in total agreement:
Like you, I enjoy reading the letters mixed with humor. Most of our received letters are boring and full of “we knew that already”, and is even more dreadfully boring the second time around. I am connected to almost everybody I know in the whole world on facebook, so it would be difficult to come up with anything you have not heard about already.
Short answer, you will probably never receive a Christmas Letter from the Ernst Family. I could put together a letter full of my most memorable facebook status updates, that might be entertaining.
Our family never did them. I considered doing one this year since I traveled to Australia for the first time and completed my first triathlon this year. But in the end decided I didn’t have enough else to make it worth the read.
I bet you @jclayville would write a really funny Christmas letter too.
Makeda – I’m sure Jenni’s would be really funny. And sarcastic.
We don’t do one. If we did, we’d only send it to people we really don’t see or talk to often. Family members who aren’t on Facebook, etc. Yes, I just checked and sadly not everyone in the world is on Facebook.
We get a couple each year and they do come from people that I only talk to a few times a year so it is actually nice to hear what is going on.
Alex – What!? Everyone isn’t on facebook? Please don’t tell me they’re still on MySpace.
I see your point about infrequent communication. To that point I really wish we did more old fashioned, non-electronic letter writing year round. Perhaps a new years resolution for me? Hmmm…..
I do because are so far away from my husband’s family. Especially the older aunts & uncles (large Polish/Catholic family). It’s short & to the point. And we moved 1700 miles from TX to WA in August, so really needed to let folks know why we moved. Hubby does NOT do any social networking. No twitter, no FB, and never myspace!! I try not to brag, because that’s what I hate about them. I’m not always humorous, but if it’s in there, that’s even better! Thanks for all you do for recovery. :)
Shellie – Holy cow!!!! You guys have had a huge year! And a lot of exciting stuff to say in a Xmas letter. I’m sure yours would be a good read :) Thanks for all of your encouragement. It means a lot.
Suzanne Deacon used to produce the most hilarious Christmas letters — because they looked so normal at first glance. As an example, she shared the fulfillment of a personal goal during the previous year: she’d visited every shoe store at Eastland Mall. At was all like that, and the cumulative effect was mind-boggling, especially as you set it beside other Christmas letters wherein you were informed someone had acheived their goals of climbing Mt. Everest, running a marathon in under 2 hrs. 30 mins, completing their PhD, and writing an opera.
i used to write christmas letter all the time. and then one year, i just stopped. and i have no idea why. i enjoy receiving them. and i do love when theyre humorous. humor always keeps my attention. that, and any talk of oreos.
merry christmas, nicole!