my holiday pet peeve : by amy

Before I write this post, I just want to say to my fellow parent-friends that I think your kids are cute, and I love looking at their photos on Facebook, on your phone, on your fridge, on your computer screen, and everywhere else you post them.  God's honest truth, I do!

But I have a pet peeve.
And it happens during this time of the year.

The holidays are here, which means time to write those holiday cards.  The family photo cards have become increasingly popular among families with young children.   The ones that look something like this:

Cute, right?  You probably just ordered yours, didn't you?  (and from TinyPrints, right?  They have the best designs!)  So, in the example above, the card has its holiday greeting and is "signed" by The Smiths, which include Jenna, Derek, Catherine and Robby.  Well, guess what?  There are FOUR people in The Smith family but only TWO people in the picture!  What the fudge.

....

You think I'm crazy, right?  Am I the only person in the world who is annoyed by this?  Actually, my husband agrees with me (of course).  I will admit that this irked me much more when I was childless.  I mean, if the card is from "The Smiths," I expect a picture of The Smiths-- all four of them!  What makes you think that I only want to see a picture of JUST your kids?  YOU (the parents) are the ones I'm friends with, so when I hang it on my fridge, I'd like to think of you first and your kids second.  Parents, why do you shaft yourself from the holiday photo card??  You are part of the family too!

December 2011 was our first Christmas with child, and low and behold, I wanted to make a holiday family photo card.  Yes, parents, I finally understood why you guys love making these cards.  It's a nice way to chronicle your children's Christmases and watch them grow.  The husband and I went back and forth on it, and in the end, we decided to make one under the following conditions:

1) If it was going to be from "The Changs," the card would have to include a picture of all 3 of us
2) We were only giving them to family and close friends who came to our holiday brunch.  No mass mailings.

So, that's what we did.  This was last year's picture:

And yes, I already ordered mine for this year.  It's from The Changs-- all 3 of us!

Thanks to this post, I have a feeling my mailbox is going to be a little more empty than past years...! :P  I still stick all of your kids' photos on my fridge!