Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Irony of Christmas Cards

As I ignore that nagging feeling of my Christmas cards not being finished, I am thinking back to past family cards. I don't have to think too hard because my mom has an entire photo album dedicated to every Christmas card she has ever sent out. On one hand, this is a very cool idea and a great way to take a walk down memory lane On the other it is a constant reminder of all those bad hair do's (remember when the perm was in?!), acne breakouts, and ugly Christmas outfits. Needless to say, we all have a good laugh when we bust out the album on Christmas Eve.

While our cards always appear picture perfect and portrayed a happy family or 3 happy children, we all know the truth... And every time I get one of those picture perfect cards from someone else, I wonder what their truth is.

What is our Christmas card truth?

The truth is, in that cute picture of us 3 kids holding the puppies, we were gagging because the puppies had bad gas and I think one peed on my sister.

The truth is, in the picture that showed us all decorating cookies, mom was having a meltdown because my brother had spilled a whole container of those tiny silver balls all over the hardwood floor and my sister and I had green icing in our hair.

The truth is, although Mom tried her best to make it work, my sister's perm was that bad! (I've been laughing the whole time I write this because it was so bad!)

The truth is, while we were laughing it wasn't because we were having fun, it was because we were making fun of my mom for not knowing how to work the camera and for my dad yelling "Just take the f^#&*!@ picture!"

The truth is, in that last family picture we took, most of us had a little too much to drink before the photo shoot. Come to think of it, that was probably our best picture.

The truth is, on the card I am sending out this year, Mason had just pooped all over the photographer's blanket.

3 comments:

  1. Love this! We're not sending out picture cards this year and unless I get a decent pic of the kids (usually one is frowning or blinking and usually they don't want to be *that* close to each other)then there will be no pic added in either! ;) Cherry Mistmas!

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  2. Love this, Julie. Before i had kids I was at the pumpkin patch with some moms. They were snapping pics left and right, hurrying their kids along to do the "next" activity, rushing him through like it was a race, each time "no, mom, wait, i wanna still do dis...". Oh my. Especially with digital cameras.....deleting the ones that just didn't make you or your little one look very good. It stinks. I love finding old ones of my brothers and I that tell the real story.There is nothing wrong with Christmas cards, but when I get one in the mail with the picture perfect hair and make-up put together mom with picture perfect non-blurry non whining kids sitting still and dad grinning ear to ear i think to myself...........what did she bribe them all with? Ice cream after the shoot? Hanky panky tonight for dad after the kids are in bed? Or an even more important question, what ACTUALLY went on in that house while getting everybody picture ready. C'mon people!

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  3. It makes me sad to think about all those pictures of kids throwing a fit on Santa's lap are going to get deleted... Those are the best! Thanks for the reminder to cherish all of life's moments, not just the picture perfect ones!

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