Why I Won’t Give Up The Tradition of Christmas Cards

I don't care what other people are doing...or not doing this holiday season.

I am sending out Christmas cards, and here's why.

It started with a question that I asked my husband, David. Are we (by that, I mean me) going to bother with Christmas cards this year? Of course we are, he said. Why wouldn't we? I offered up all of my excuses. They're expensive, they take time that I could/should be doing something else, and then on top of all of that, you pay for stamps. I also justified myself by saying that no one bothers with that tradition anymore. People who live in this century send bulk e-mails or Facebook greetings, and I pointed to the two lonely cards that we have received so far this year as proof.

But then I thought about it.

In the grand scheme of things, cards aren't really that costly. The ones that I purchased this year break down to 84 cents each and when you add the cost of a stamp, it brings the cost of each Christmas card to just $1.30. If you then picture each holiday card as a small gift that gets hand delivered to each of your friends and family members, the expense seems very reasonable to me. I then thought of the enjoyment that I get when I open a Christmas card. Going to get the mail is actually fun at this time of year!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I did send out cards this year, and I guess that I always will. When I stood in that horribly long line at the post office, I couldn't help but notice a sign that they had posted.

"Brighten someone's mailbox instead of their inbox."

I couldn't agree more! Happy holidays.