4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[jlo]

...because I have just done my Christmas letter for the year and have managed to mail merge it and everything. (I am a bit of a technophobe so this is quite a big deal!)

 

I am not quite sure whether I think that these Family Newletters are a good idea or not. I do like getting them from people who I don't see very often. I try not to bore people too much or boast too much about offsprings' achievements. On the other hand, I do have to spread the news about chickens and it is quite a good method of doing it!

 

I don't send cards but feel that these letters are a reasonable way of letting people know that you are thinking of them? I do send them electronically to everyone that I can - just to save a little paper and things!

 

Do any of you do the same or do you think that they are just the most tedious thing to arrive at Christmas time?

Edited December 1, 2008 by Guest

[Guest]

I think it's a good idea providing, as you say, it's not a long list of boasts. I'm very nosey and read quite a few blogs and most of my friends and family read mine so I don't need to send a newsletter but if I didn't keep a blog, I think it's something I would do.

 

I like the idea, good for you

[Phonix]

Im of the opposite opinion im afraid - ive never sent one and neither have my parents!

We do receive a few and maybe thats why im so against them - the people we get them off are the most anoying, boastful, materialist people you've ever met and they must detail every holiday they've been and car they've bought and how amazing their kids are doing but ommitting the fact thet darling X is out completely wasted and meeting random men every weekend and darling Y just failed all his exams! And of course they must include the pics of the lastest hols.

 

Maybe its WHO we get the letters of that puts me off not the letters in themselves lol! The people we get them off are people that we never see and only send christmas cards too once a year on purpose lol!!!

 

Sorry that turned into a bit of a rant - what i was trying to say was that we get the worst ones - maybe if we received one from someone a bit more modest and down-to-earth I wouldn't have a problem...

[miffy]

I never used to send christmas letters, but found I really enjoyed reading other peoples they had sent. Then a couple of friends, I dont really meet up with any more suggested I did one too, so now I do. I keep it simple, not too detailed, include a couple of funny bits, less than an A4 side. I do a generic letter, then personalise by hand adding comments or questions.

[craftyhunnypie]

Hi phoenix - I don't like them either! I think that real friends should already know about your achievements & what you've done in the year. I find them absolutely awful & sickly. I just think it's a wrong thing to do. 'Oh Merry Christmas, I've done this, I've done that'!

 

Emma.x

[Cinnamon]

I have never sent or recieved one,so I don't know much about them,but I must say that I am not keen on the idea

[Egluntyne]

I don't like them either! I think that real friends should already know about your achievements & what you've done in the year.

 

Same here. I got lumbered with "editing" an extended family Christmas newsletter for a couple of year....but put a stop to it as everyone knew the info anyway and I didn't need the extra hassle.

 

Can't abide bragograms which are typed up and star with a "Dear......." and then your name is scribbled in.

 

A personal letter however is a different thing.

[Olly]

I do prefer a personal letter, and that's what I'll be doing with mine.

 

I don't mind receiving them from distant friends, at least it keeps you up to date with what's going on in their world, although I'd prefer a letter - or better still a phone call.

 

some of them are hysterically funny, though! And a friend of my brother-in-law used to write a spoof one which was very clever ... it did say what the family had done through the year, but described in a rather off-beat way!

 

My real hate? The ones where they are 'written' by the children (although actually by the parents) including baby-talk.

[Old Speckled Hen]

The personal touch, even if it's just a few sentences, is so much more thoughtful and that's what I'm trying to do this year. I have moved away so there will be more to do.

I hate Round Robins and I do get a few every year.

I have received two already via EMAIL

E mail is great for instant communication but how many of us here have a letter to hold, smell, look at, maybe from someone far away, a child now grown, somebody passed away?

Pen and Ink may be "old fashioned" but shows so much more care and affection, I think

[crazygal]

I'm afraid that I can't stand them. My parents always get them from the same people every year, and they save them for me to have a laugh as they are so pretentious-

 

so cliched- children have done fantastically well in exams, done all their grades in all musical instruments, mother has gone around Europe with the choir etc etc, but now it includes the clever grandchildren- first tooth, first steps, etc etc like they are the only ones to do such things!!

 

I love letters, but not when they are typed out with just the recipients name scrawled on the top. yuk

 

Does anyone ever receive family Christmas cards with a photo of the family? I got one last year from a family that had dressed their children up in reindeer costumes...it was so , what makes it worse is the family thinks its cute

[jlo]

I know what you all mean about the pretensious ones and the fact that they are not personal.

 

The problem is that, at the beginning of each year, one of my resolutions is to meet up with some old friends that I haven't seen the previous year. And then the year just disappears and here we are at Christmas again.

 

I did a basic letter and then, on the mail merge it said, "edit individual letters." I went through every one of them and made them personal to the person that I was sending it to - deleting bits that they already knew; adding extra bits; asking about their families. BUT - I must have done something wrong because when I printed the pages - they were all just the standard letter but with the different names and addresses. I only noticed this this morning when I was about to put the letters into envelopes and I am gutted as it took me hours last night to sort out all the individual bits and I really don't just want to send a "round robin." (especially after reading some of the views on this topic!)

 

I don't think that I will bother!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Poor you jlo, it's so frustrating when you think you have the techno stuff sorted & it all goes pear-shaped!

 

Sha x

[Ain't Nobody Here]

What a shame, JLo . And how frustrating .

 

I must say, although I'm positive your Round Robin would be interesting, entertaining and not a "bragogram" (fantastic word, Egluntine ) I'm not generally a fan of them. I only get 2 each year, both bragograms and one of them from my sister-in-law . OK, so she and my brother are separated but I do get to hear about my nephew and nieces and don't need an annual update .

 

The fact that you personalised it (or you tried to ) makes your Round Robin a nice one .

[missuscluck]

'Bragogram' Love it!

 

I only write to one friend as she dosent use a computer and lives in the Lake District.

 

Tbh, im thinking of seriously slimming down my Christmas card writing this year. I always go through my address book and churn out the same cards year after year. There is folks in there I havent seen for years. Its all pointless. If I wanted to catch up with them I could but im obviously not that bothered because I havent and vice versa. I definatly think there is a few that I could leave out.

 

The other thing I do which is totally stupid is go Arrrgh when I recive one form someone I never thought of sending one to and go scurrying off to post them one. I guess you should stick to plan A where you hadnt thought of it!

 

I hope that dosent sound mean . I'll do all the aged aunties and my good friends. A merry Christmas one and all on here and one on Facebook and that will do it.

[Seagazer]

I used to get a nice card with a handwritten note from a girl I used to work with who moved abroad. We conversed like this for 18 years. The last couple of years she has sent a typed impersonal letter that is full of boasts and its a real shame. I miss the old letters.

 

I still handwrite my card and letter to her though.

 

On the other hand, a husband of a friend of mine that died sends a letter keeping everyone updated on what he and the children are doing and that is in the form of a round robin. This I don't mind as its lovely to know how they are.

[Egluntyne]

I don't think that I will bother!

Do what feels right for you. Just as many people enjoy receiving them as don't, and I'm sure yours will be full of interest and not full of exaggerations and boasts.

[poachedegg]

Is it just me because I've never heard of this 'tradition'?

[Shirl]

We've only had them from one fairly distant relative and it isn't too boastful. I thought it was much nicer than a card.

 

I can understand how they can be a bit boastful though. I'm more inclined to tell people how E is a great swimmer, reader etc than how G has dropped out of Uni again and has decided to make a career in MC Ds. Not that I'm in the habit of extolling Es virtues too much but if you have to write something better than what a little whatsit G can be

[Looney]

Does anyone ever receive family Christmas cards with a photo of the family? I got one last year from a family that had dressed their children up in reindeer costumes...it was so , what makes it worse is the family thinks its cute

 

 

Well, we're sending handmade cards to special friends and family this year that include a pic of our baby on them! And of course they are cute - they have our baby on them! We won't be sending them to distant friends / work colleagues but I think they are a nice thing to do and something that loved ones are more likely to keep and appreciate. If people find them sickly they can pop them straight in the recycling!

 

Each to their own I guess!

[dancing cloud]

For all those I don't see very often, I usually do a short handwritten note on the left hand inside cover of the card.

 

Last year it was mainly about getting Loki (anniverary of adoption next Monday ) and how much he loved Puddy, and how very unimpressed she was! This year it'll be all about cats and hens - well, I don't have children and lead a fairly dull life, so my bragogram will have to be about my pets

 

At least I won't be dressing them up in reindeer outfits

[Willow]

My husband was a bit disconcerted when his dad popped one of the impersonal round robin letters in their Christmas card to us (oh and it mentioned the other grandchild and didn't mention our boys at all) ! They also put one in my parents card and they were bewildered (I could count on one hand the number of times my parents and his have met and it's over 24 years since we started dating).

 

That said I must admit I quite like getting them from friends we don't have enough time to catch up with (and have a good giggle at the bragograms) and I'd like to do one to include in friends cards but would be worried about it being pretentious or too much info.

[Fizzle Knit]

Dear Jlo, don't feel bad about it - as you said you're personalising yours and I'm sure it's not a "bragogram". Like the otheres here I can't bear the ones that are "me, me, me" and a litany about how absolutely wonderful they and their family are, and showing absolutely no interest in the recipient. We used to get one from a cousin - all 4 children were absolutely perfect and high-achieving as were cousin and spouse and it was basically one big boast. I always wondered what would happen if one of the children turned out to be a crack addict or a prostitute, or even worse, failed to get into Oxbridge. (Actually the most fun we ever had reading them was reading between the lines - was "X is fiercely independent and at 16 has embarked on a creative life" actually meant to be "X was kicked out of school before GCSE's and is now drawing the dole"?)

 

And just for the record I sent a (select few) cards to people one year of a photo of my 3 boys, not dressed as reindeers but standing next to some scuplted ones. It was a nice way to send out photos to some people whgo I thought would appreciate them.

[bluekarin]

My husband was a bit disconcerted when his dad popped one of the impersonal round robin letters in their Christmas card to us (oh and it mentioned the other grandchild and didn't mention our boys at all) ! They also put one in my parents card and they were bewildered (I could count on one hand the number of times my parents and his have met and it's over 24 years since we started dating).

 

That said I must admit I quite like getting them from friends we don't have enough time to catch up with (and have a good giggle at the bragograms) and I'd like to do one to include in friends cards but would be worried about it being pretentious or too much info.

 

 

That's not very nice at all (the bit about your kids not being mentioned). Do you think they put it in by mistake? I used to get one from my uncle and his family but that did feel like a bragging thing . . . and we could only mange three holidays this year bla bla bla . . . If you are going to do them I think you have to be very careful how they are written.

[Valkyrie]

Patricia:

My husband was a bit disconcerted when his dad popped one of the impersonal round robin letters in their Christmas card to us (oh and it mentioned the other grandchild and didn't mention our boys at all) !

 

Hey, that's my dragon in law to a T! Otherwise when meeting her friends I get "how are the twins?" I don't have twins.

 

Jlo - I have 2 ex colleagues that I keep in touch with. One has started doing the bulk copied letter "bragogram" - even prints her name - which I find quite sad. I will still keep in touch, but be quite brief this year. The other lady sends really funny letters and she writes a lot about the garden and has some good tips. I send her my tips for the garden too and try and make my letter funny - it does usually contain lots of crossings out with "oops" and "sorry" by them - sometimes little pictures to disguise the mistakes. There will be a few chicken doodles this year!

 

Don't worry about sending a letter - some people enjoy them, and if you think the recipient will too, then that'll be nice, but it doesn't need to be a novel.

 

Ooh - in the post today 1 Christmas card plus a short letter from our elderly Kiwi friend in NZ - he's been globetrotting this year, so a bit about his travels and lots about his garden! We exchange e-mails during the year anyway.

 

See you soon,

[jlo]

If you are going to do them I think you have to be very careful how they are written.

 

 

I agree. I have now done one. I went through and personalised it (again ) It is on one page and (fingers crossed) not a bragogram! I confess that I do boast about my kids but only to my mum and MIL. Everyone else who knows them doesn't have such rose tinted spectacles!

 

Thanks to you all for your comments