Last year I completely dropped the ball as far as Christmas cards were concerned. Nope, I did not send one Christmas card. Sad, I know. But I was fine with the decision after I realized that unless I decided to lick and stamp at about 3am for a few nights, it just wasn't happening . It was sort of well, freeing really. No pressure to select just the right photo of the family or the girls. No rushing out to get them printed. No extra $40.00 in postage alone.
This year I decided I wanted to send the cards. I didn't feel pressured to do it. I simply wanted to do it. And, hello Vistaprint....from the safe and secure chair located in front of my computer, I was able to order lots of Christmas cards while NOT dragging my two children to Costco for printing. That alone was worth the extra $7.00.
My only dilemma....reindeer hats or traditional Christmas coordinating outfits in front of a tree.
Personally, I'm partial to reindeer balloon hats since it shows their personalities. Their goofy silliness in all it's glory. And, this is what they look like most of the time when we are home. Except for the hitting, pouting and general sanguine behavior we sometimes see when they have had just too much sisterly togetherness.
Then again I did "earn" those matching holiday outfits when I sweated it out in pentagon style negotiations with my 7 year old at The Children's Place. She flitted about tossing red velvet, green polka dots and bolero sweaters at me while acting like Paris Hilton with her paid stylist picking up the trail after her. At the point of my exhaustion I ended the show with a short clip to the back of her arm skreetching at her in my public mom voice...."look, your selection of one and only one outfit needs to come BEFORE the second rising here, dear. And, your sister will get an outfit too, so leave something on the racks." Nice, I know. I did catch another mother out of the corner of my eye laughing at me while skittering away from us...far away. So yes, I earned those outfits and photographic evidence that I survived that trip to the mall with my daughters.
Which one did we select? Did you guess? If you're on our card list this year you should find out in about 4-7 business days. Otherwise, here is a hint. The Vistaprint templates were too small and rigid to accommodate some very large reindeer hats even though they were too darn cute while they lasted. Which for the record was about 20 minutes.
Happy card sending and collecting.
