Sending Christmas Cards every year was something that I never really understood growing up, which I am sure a lot of people may not have understood either. You knew it was coming because if your family participated in the whole Christmas Card exchanges you would slowly but surely see them invade whatever space you had. For my mom, she put them on the walls however as we got older she would have a little card stand that she would put them on in the center of the table. My grandmother would put them on her walls but around the door frame in the living room as a sort of decoration as the holiday season would go on. Christmas cards is a great way to get in touch with loved ones near and far to update them on the year ahead. Before we had moved away for a number of year sin Quebec we never really were Christmas Card people. Now that I am older though, and even though moved back home, I still enjoy making up cards for my friends and family and putting in a little update about our house to them as well too. Letting them know that we are thinking about them and they are missed over the season.

For many reasons though, through the years I do believe the art of sending Christmas cards is starting to slow die off. One of those reasons being technology. In today’s day and age so many people are able to send an email to a loved one instantly instead of having to wait til it goes through the proper channels it needs to and postal services. Not to mention you run the risk of things also getting lost in the mail which at the holidays is something that is completely possible and does happen regularly. You can send anything via the internet also. Therefore sending gifts can be difficult. For me, I always would send my present to loved ones in a box to each home. Call me old fashioned but I like to wrap them myself instead of just sending it to someone also. With the advances in technology there is nearly no reason to use a postal service regardless of where you are living except maybe for sending important information to a government agency that requires you to sign and physically send papers back.

Price may also be a deciding factor. Maybe you are someone who live away from home or in a totally different country. In order to send a letter it may not seem like a lot of money, however if you are sending physical gifts or larger ticket items the price can be pretty costly. I know for myself sending a parcel from Quebec to Nova Scotia and another to Alberta for a few years would be a hundred or so dollars. That is not including insurance as well because they do say when you insure your parcels they typically take more care of your package because they don’t want to pay for the contents if by chance they do get lost. I know that is something my mom has always told me to do whenever she herself sent parcels and we did the same thing when we all lived away from home and had to send things back and forth home. Does it help, I really cannot say if it does but it seems like a great thing to do though regardless. You never know if your parcel might be the lost one til it is too late. Of course though there is things that people send that are irreplaceable however at least a tag of being insured could help the company better take care and hold some accountability.

Another issue people may have is timing. When you send a letter you really do not have a whole lot to worry about maybe if it was going across the world however in the same country letters and things are pretty routinely able to be sent within a week or so. That being said, parcels need a lot more planning in order to be sent. I know one year I had sent one to both places in Canada and surprisingly enough my one going to Nova Scotia (Way closer than Alberta in comparison to Quebec) made it a lot later! There was no real rhyme or reason on the distance and why it took so long but I sent both the same day towards the end of November and was starting to get worried that one would not make it in time for the holidays! Thankfully it did but it was still nerve wracking to say the least.

With all that being said, you may think I am against sending Christmas Cards or parcels. I am far from it. Remember when you were a kid, or even older and how excited you would get when you mailed a card to someone or received one back. There is no better feeling in the world to feel that way. I know growing up nothing was more exciting than checking the mail around holidays or your birthday even if there was no money or anything just to see that someone took the time to find a card, sign it, mail it, and send it to you to show that you were worth a few moments to them. There is something that is just more personal than shooting off an email or even opening one up that I want to keep that tradition going for friends and family. Even if I don’t send any cards or anything for the rest of the year due to life being so hectic the holidays are a great way to take that extra moment of reflection to show people and update them about what is new as well as showing they are worth the time.

Do you continue to send Christmas cards to friends and family over the Holidays?

Are you someone who regularly sends letters or cards through the year too?

Let me know in the comments below if you too are a fan of this tradition even though technology is making it a lost connection building tool.