Well, its happened.
Its *that* time of year. Its the day before Christmas... Santa is getting his sleigh ready and the 'have you been a good girl?' question comes to mind... but perhaps you should also consider another question this year... Have you become CARDZILLA?!
Forget 'Bridezilla', Cardzilla is the term I've created (copyright @maidenheadmum) to describe those people that count themselves guilty of some (maybe even all!) of the following:
See how many statements apply to you:
- I made a list of all the cards I received last year and from who, and used it to write this year's cards.
- I have a special pen I use to write my cards.
- I used a family photo of all of us having a GREAT time in festive outfits/ santa hats/ elf costumes (delete as applicable) for this year's Christmas Card.
- I somehow lose an hour every time I step into Clintons/ Birthdays/ WHSmiths as I look for the 'right' card with the 'right' verse.
- I got my child to create a Christmas card but was so chuffed with their handiwork that I didn't really notice that the hand print in brown paint could be mistaken for something else. Oh. No.
- I have written out Christmas cards to all of the children in school/ nursery, on behalf of each of my kids.
- I knew all of the last posting days way back in November and sent mine out by the first week of December.
- You've had a card from Janet and Roy, and despite not really knowing who they are, you've sent one back.
Guilty of all them? Some of them? Oh dear.... You might be a Cardzilla!
(Disclaimer: I think I'm guilty of a few!)
Now, before I get away with being all 'pointy finger' and 'haha!', I should confess that this year I did actually send a personalised Christmas card. But, in my defence, it was just an image of the little one next to our Christmas tree last year. I'd like to think its a bit arty.... and also it meant that I didn't then have to spend an hour of my life hunting down lots of not-so-right cards for each of the family members in the shops for ridiculous prices. Trust me, its not that easy locating a decent card when you need to find 1 x Nanny, 1 x Nanna and 1 x Nan. Its all about the detail. (inner Cardziila coming through!)
So this year I had a rash moment of organisation in November and ordered 10 cards from YoPhoto using one of my photos and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the results. The print quality was on par with a card you would buy from a shop, as verified by the other half. And he should know, having spent many a year as a graphic designer creating and proofing artwork and print spec. Being honest, we had to do a little bit of work before we uploaded the photo- we added the text ourselves in Photoshop before we uploaded it, and it would have been nice if we could have done this in the software itself, but that was pretty much it. we hit send and in return for £9.99 we got 12 cards and envelopes that looked like this:
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| The message inside says "Merry Christmas from the three of us' |
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| In situ at my friend's house. Stands out a bit, feeling a bit Cardzilla now, whoops!' |
Anyway, back to the Cardzilla debate. I'm still yet to find out if half of my family is mightily offended that they haven't had a 'Happy Christmas Mum/ Dad/ Brother/ Nephew/ Nanny/Nanna/Nan' card....or whether they think I'm taking some kind of smug moral high ground in a "my daughter is this cute" kind of way. I hope they approved of it. I hope I didn't cross a line.
Plus, I didn't quite go to this extent, so I'm hoping I got away with it! Check out 'Christmas 2013: Worst family Christmas Cards of all time" from The Telegraph.
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| What are the animals doing? And whats with the 'model' pose from the girl on the left?! |
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| So many questions... the outfits? The Cigar?? |
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| Was this the best shot, the one you thought was so great you should get it printed?? Please tell me its ironic?! |
You can see more quality examples by clicking here to the Telegraph's article or using the link below:
But on a more serious note, remember that Cardzilla does not operate in isolation. You're not in a bubble. For every personal victory and 'high five' that you give yourself for finding (or creating) the 'perfect' card, remember those less fortunate/ bothered than you and put yourself in their shoes. Its not great feeling being 'out-carded'. A bit like being given a bag full of brilliant gifts when you weren't aware that you were 'doing that' this year and haven't got them bag of brilliant gifts in return (casts a knowing glance at one of my Besties, ahem). Totally 'out-gifted'.
Surely Christmas should be about the simple things - family and friends getting together and sharing 'good cheer'. It shouldn't have to be about feeling duty bound to send Christmas Cards to everyone. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that unless you're actually going to write something personal on the card other than 'to xx ' from 'xx', then perhaps its not really worth it. Pick up the phone/ Go and see them instead. Wave at them over the internet using Facetime or Skype. And as a last request, Mums, please, wait till your little ones are old enough to understand Christmas and Christmas cards before rushing out and sending cards to their whole class (she's 18 months! She wouldn't notice if she didn't get a card from all of her nursery mates). Just saying
Or is that just me? Am I just being a bit Bah Humbug?! Is it never too soon to start sharing our Christmas traditions with our Little Ones? Have I crossed the 'Cardzilla' line by sending a personalised card? Would love to hear what you think - add a comment or tweet me a photo of your Cardzilla moments.
As a final thought. If you have had a card from Janet and Roy this year, you might like to check out what the mischievous mums on Mumsnet have been up to for the last few years.... 'Fake Christmas Cards'
If you've enjoyed reading this post and want to stay updated you can follow me on Twitter, visit my website www.maidenheadmum.co.uk or you can use the boxes on the right hand side (on desktop) or at the bottom of the screen (mobile) to get my posts sent to you by email.
Labels: Cards, Christmas, Gifts, Mumsnet, Photos
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