I love Christmas. I love everything about Christmas.
One of my favorite things by far is getting the old fashioned, snail mail, Christmas cards. I love seeing people's children as they grow throughout the years and hearing about their lives. I personally don't ever write a Christmas letter, but I enjoy reading them.
Wouldn't it be brilliant though, if one year, people sent out a real card. What if, instead of telling of all their family successes, they told about their kids pooping in neighbor's yards, dumping sand on kids' heads, trying to drown one another in the pool or sound, and attacking bullies with toilet plungers. (All these incidents happened in either my or my husband's family growing up, but I won't reveal names in order to protect the privacy of us and our siblings). What if, instead of sending the one decent shot out of the 200 taken, we sent a picture of our "real" kids, in all their glory, during the photo shoot.
For example:
Here is our infamous "smoking a doobie" shot from 2006,
One of my favorite things by far is getting the old fashioned, snail mail, Christmas cards. I love seeing people's children as they grow throughout the years and hearing about their lives. I personally don't ever write a Christmas letter, but I enjoy reading them.
Wouldn't it be brilliant though, if one year, people sent out a real card. What if, instead of telling of all their family successes, they told about their kids pooping in neighbor's yards, dumping sand on kids' heads, trying to drown one another in the pool or sound, and attacking bullies with toilet plungers. (All these incidents happened in either my or my husband's family growing up, but I won't reveal names in order to protect the privacy of us and our siblings). What if, instead of sending the one decent shot out of the 200 taken, we sent a picture of our "real" kids, in all their glory, during the photo shoot.
For example:
Here is our infamous "smoking a doobie" shot from 2006,
the "We refuse to sit/stand/pose or even look at the camera" of 2007
The "I can't believe their mother lets them near that vicious beast" shot of 2008
and finally, the "what the hell? I wanted a real candy cane!" shot of 2009
Did I send out any of these pictures. No. Should I? Maybe - they're quite funny to look at.
Did I send out a real Christmas letter this year? No.
Should I? Maybe. Tell me what you think of the following draft:
Disclaimer: Okay, I would never send out that card since it is highly negative and even though all those things are true, it is not how I choose to look at our lives in 2009. In actuality, those were just the trying parts of an altogether great year.
So, be looking for our "fake" Christmas card in the mail. You know, the card with the one decent photo I got amidst the 70 photos of the kids fighting over who got to sit in the green chair.
How did I finally get a decent shot?
Bribery. They'll do anything for fruit snacks.
Did I send out a real Christmas letter this year? No.
Should I? Maybe. Tell me what you think of the following draft:
Dear family and friends,
2009 has been an exciting year for the Fischer family. We were blessed with another baby boy in January. Things went really well for the first two weeks until Rachel's milk dried up. Then, she plummeted into a severe bout of PPD. She could hardly function and wanted to run her car into a tree. She's much better now and tries to use her experience to help other women suffering from PPD.
At the same time of her depression, Owen started having some medical problems that caused him to vomit profusely before, after, and during every feeding. Our house now has "Owen stains" everywhere. His medical problems caused a lot of emotional and financial strain on the family, but we're coming out of it.
Emma Grace got the swine flu and lived to tell about it, even though she had to be escorted out the back door of the doctor's office. She also had some major issues with pooping and had to receive her first ever enema. It did not go well. She's doing much better with that.
Isaac is in this great phase of whining and crying uncontrollably when he's tired. It's not much fun to watch and/or listen to. We're working on it though. He also has a huge bump and scar on his head from falling out of the bed.
Todd enjoys his job, but between that and the kids, he is often exhausted and doesn't have time to get things done around the yard and house that he would like to do. Such is life.
Hope this letter finds you all doing as well as us.
Happy Holidays,
The Fischer Family
2009 has been an exciting year for the Fischer family. We were blessed with another baby boy in January. Things went really well for the first two weeks until Rachel's milk dried up. Then, she plummeted into a severe bout of PPD. She could hardly function and wanted to run her car into a tree. She's much better now and tries to use her experience to help other women suffering from PPD.
At the same time of her depression, Owen started having some medical problems that caused him to vomit profusely before, after, and during every feeding. Our house now has "Owen stains" everywhere. His medical problems caused a lot of emotional and financial strain on the family, but we're coming out of it.
Emma Grace got the swine flu and lived to tell about it, even though she had to be escorted out the back door of the doctor's office. She also had some major issues with pooping and had to receive her first ever enema. It did not go well. She's doing much better with that.
Isaac is in this great phase of whining and crying uncontrollably when he's tired. It's not much fun to watch and/or listen to. We're working on it though. He also has a huge bump and scar on his head from falling out of the bed.
Todd enjoys his job, but between that and the kids, he is often exhausted and doesn't have time to get things done around the yard and house that he would like to do. Such is life.
Hope this letter finds you all doing as well as us.
Happy Holidays,
The Fischer Family
Disclaimer: Okay, I would never send out that card since it is highly negative and even though all those things are true, it is not how I choose to look at our lives in 2009. In actuality, those were just the trying parts of an altogether great year.
So, be looking for our "fake" Christmas card in the mail. You know, the card with the one decent photo I got amidst the 70 photos of the kids fighting over who got to sit in the green chair.
How did I finally get a decent shot?
Bribery. They'll do anything for fruit snacks.
I can NOT stop laughing at the first pic - Emma Grace under the tree - way too funny! All are great, but the crying over the fake candy cane....well, it is just too too funny! Is that bad, that I am laughing at a pic of my sweet little Owen crying? I think your Christmas musings are right on target! Merry Christmas.
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