The holidays are here, in full force. I am big on traditions, the ones that we had growing up and creating our own with the boys. I think I do this partly because the traditions ground me and help me remember to be full of gratitude for how much we really have (even when, or especially when, it feels like we don't). We've started an advent calendar of sorts (read: a mason jar of colored popsicle sticks; we pull out one a day and read what I oh-so-sneakily wrote on the back the night before... or just in the minutes before because I totally forgot the night before. Don't judge). Santa brings the boys holiday pj's on Christmas eve, while they're in the bath and they JUST BARELY MISS HIM, OH MAN SANTA WAS IN OUR HOUSE AND YOU MISSED HIM BECAUSE YOU WERE IN THE BATH. But my favorite-- my very favorite-- is the annual holiday card, complete with family photo. Now I don't get all Looney Tunes and write a family newsletter or anything (too pretentious for me, but I'm not judging those who do), but I do get a little nutso over getting a good picture of us all together before the first week of December. It's getting hard because the oldest is working full time and H.Bomb is only with us every other weekend and E$ is three, which means he'll generally do the opposite of whatever it is I want. Last year's card may have been the best ever:
See?!? Complete and total awesomeness. I love the colors, the fonts, the photo, the message. I don't like cards that are specifically Christmas; I try to be sensitive to the fact that some people don't celebrate Christmas, so this card was perfect. In every way except for the fact that I can't mail it out again this year.
Here's a brief sampling of pre-edited photos for this year's card (keep an out for waving hands, moving dogs and closed eyes):
(eyes closed)
(strange dogs and faces)
(scared Jason, waving E$)
(two angry kids)
(almost... but not quite)
(E$'s eyes are closed)
(um, yeah)
(this was the one I used, despite the wave)
(the forced smile)These didn't leave me much to work with. They were all almost perfect and then just fell flat. Le sigh.
And now I'm feeling redundant-- I almost always do a black and white photo with a color background. I put our names in the same order (by age). I choose an funkier card as opposed to one with rolling, pretty script with bright colors and a theme of general love and happiness during the holidays. There is certainly no one putting any pressure on me except for myself; when I showed Jason the one I think I'll order for this year, he sort of grunted and nodded and farted twice (no lie), all of which I took as his approval. I'm ordering straight from Sam's Club instead of Etsy to save a few bucks, so I might have to settle with a lackluster font, but it's just a card, right?
If you're the kind of person who never actually gets around to sending out holiday cards, you might be wondering why this is such a big deal to me. If you're the kind of person who frets over a newsletter, you might be wondering why choosing a simple card keeps me up at night. Sometimes, I wonder why I think so much about it, to the point where it has become a joke in my family and among some of my friends-- my odd obsession with The Holiday Card. To me, that card means that we at least sort of have it together. It means that my kids are growing and doing well, that we are all doing well. That we are happy enough to make taking this picture a priority and that it means we're not being bogged down by the heavier things that often come in life. Knock on wood, that card means that we are not sick, that we have jobs and a home and can still surround ourselves with love. That we have a lot to be grateful for. So please bare with me as I obsess over The Card; understand that in the end, whatever picture is there, whatever font is there, it all just means I have a lot to be thankful for.
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