I love Christmas cards. Growing up, I always envisioned myself as being one of those people who had it together and would send a perfect family Christmas card every year. The year my husband and I got married, our first Christmas cards were delivered the day after Thanksgiving. Perfection.
Over the years, I have had varying levels of success with getting Christmas cards out timely. Most of this hinges on the dreaded family portrait. (Which, in case you missed it, Katie Templet’s blog on the terrors of the Christmas card family photoshoot is spot on.)
One year we even sent Happy New Year’s cards because I was due on Christmas, and I couldn’t bear to send cards that left out our newborn. (And come to find out, New Year’s cards are a French tradition, so there.)
A series of unfortunate events
This year we went next level. From my husband’s delay in getting a haircut, to an incredibly unfortunate 18 hours where my daughter’s face was covered in both poison ivy and brush burns, to COVID, the family portrait didn’t happen. We did not send a Christmas card. We didn’t even send a Happy New Year’s card.
Laissez-les bons temps rouler!
But who cares?? Julia Childs always sent Valentine’s Day cards. Let’s take off the pressure and make Mardi Gras cards a thing. Check your mailbox – Happy Mardi Gras cards incoming February 2022. Maybe the masks and beads will make the family portrait more fun. And afterward, there will be gluten-free king cake.
Cheers to letting go of the stress and embracing the chaos and creating new traditions! Happy Mardi Gras!
