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Christmas newsletters...


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I like them. I get one every year from a Swedish friend. We do not write otherwise--we each have busy families. We don't email regularly either. If we didn't have this communication we probably would have lost touch completely and she would not have included a visit to my family when she came to the states last summer.

 

The truth is I can't keep up with most people I'd like to keep up with, even though that's not a very big group. I figure this stressful/busy life will pass one day. It will be nice to reconnect with college friends etc when it does. In the mean time knowing a little about their lives maintains that connection so that when the opportunity arise, we can really catch up.

 

My letter has a few short notes about kids' interest and pics. Nothing braggy. That's always annoying.

 

"Little Suzie got into GT and made the travel soccer team and first violin and and ..." Bleah!!! Hate that stuff. General notes and pics are nice.

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I enjoy them, especially with pictures. If I don't know the family real well and they have a long letter, then I will skip or skim. For the most part, though, I do enjoy them.

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Do you love em, hate em or are you indifferent....

 

FYI our newsletter gives a brief synopsis of our year and includes some photos of our farm and kids. Less than one page w/out the photos.

 

Would you hate it or not?

 

Oddly enough, I don't get them from strangers. Only from family or friends. Some are close and the letter is a recap of joys and sorrows, victories and disappointments that we lived with them. Some are far away and living lives that don't brush ours often. Their letters remind us of when our lives were more entertwined, of how the years have passed, kids have grown and hair has turned gray (or fallen out altogether).

 

Sure I've gotten a couple that made me wonder if they realized how something sounded. And I'm sure that our travel filled letters from Europe may have grated on some of our family who were tied more closely to home.

 

But I still love them. (I think my favorite is a work colleague of dh's who in addition to her busy military work is a certified rodeo photographer. She has sidebars filled with pictures of where she's been and rodeo shots she took. I've never even met her and I look forward to seeing her letter.)

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Love 'em! Wish I had the time/talent to write one myself, but I'll settle for enjoying other people's letters. It's most fun for me to find out what's going on in the lives of those folks I don't see or talk to very often. We spent time in the military, so we have friends literally all over the world, some of whom we only hear from at Christmas. I know--you'd think if we really cared we'd keep in better touch, but it's just one of those weird things.

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I waffle between enjoying them and being indifferent. I enjoy them because I like hearing what the writer's family has been up to all year. I'm indifferent because often times I doubt they are an "accurate" a depiction of that person's life, and frankly, why would I want to read 4-6 pages of the false happiness of potty accidents in the bathtub, barfed on bed sheets and lost dogs? With the latter aspect, I feel it is kind of self indulgent.

 

But I'm feeling kind of hum-buggy lately. Possibly it is only my family that sends these kinds of newsletters with an attempt at a humorous spin :tongue_smilie:.

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I love them, but I think I only actual get ONE a year from one particular family. I have been sending them for 20 years. This year it has been very hard for me to decide how or what I want to write since the death of our son, but I know that he would want me to keep our family tradition going. So, I am writing the letter.

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Do you love em, hate em or are you indifferent....

 

FYI our newsletter gives a brief synopsis of our year and includes some photos of our farm and kids. Less than one page w/out the photos.

 

Would you hate it or not?

 

 

Good. That's what we've done for years. Other family members and friends do the same. Now, I'll create this "form" letter to send in with everyone's cards. Why write the same 400 words dozens of times? So, everyone gets the printed form letter on Christmas-bordered stationary. Additionally, I hand write a little "personalized" note about 10 lines give or take in each person's card....specific to them.

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I love them, but I think I only actual get ONE a year from one particular family. I have been sending them for 20 years. This year it has been very hard for me to decide how or what I want to write since the death of our son, but I know that he would want me to keep our family tradition going. So, I am writing the letter.

 

:grouphug: That must be so hard!

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I have hated the ones I've gotten in past because the tone of them was "look at the wonderful things we did in every month of the year". "We have the most beautiful, wonderful and intelligent of children, who win every contest and scholarship. We are highly successful and take multiple wonderful vacations each year," yada, yada.... I do think it is perfectly possible to do a nice letter that isn't a smug brag - I just haven't seen one....

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The annual Do you like Christmas Newsletters, thread. . .:D

 

 

 

That was my first thought as well. LOL!

 

I haven't seen a Christmas newsletter yet that I enjoyed. Maybe I'm getting them from the wrong people. Anybody want to send me one and I'll tell you what I think? :lol:

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I like the ones that aren't children's resumes!

 

When our kids were young, I used to write one every year with all funny things the kids had said over the year (malaprops, etc. ). People asked me for them when they were late (pretty much every year) so I think that went over well.

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