The Christmas Letter

I love Christmas letters. I love getting them and reading them and learning all about everything that my friends and family have been doing all year. I love that it is the one time of year when we are able to brag about our children and everything else in our lives without being self absorbed because it's Christmas, and it's what we, and others, expect. I love getting pictures in Christmas cards and seeing how families and kids have grown. But what I love the most, is how we are all rich enough to outsource the writing of our Christmas letter to a special journalist who documents the lives of each family member so nicely. For example:

James is doing well, working and playing baseball on the weekends.

Judy loves staying at home with the kids and is a volunteer at the elementary school.

George is in the 1st grade and is reading everything he can find.

Susie is finally potty trained.

... And I am the mysterious outsider who came and observed this family so I could write a letter for their Christmas card!

We've all done it... or at least read letters that have done it. Why are they written in third person?

As for me, I don't normally write letters. I just send pictures. I figure this year, the biggest thing that happened to us was pretty well documented in the picture, seeing as how there was another kid in it that wasn't there last year. Perhaps, when you get my picture, you may wish I told you a little bit more about our year. But if you read my blog... that's hardly an issue for you, right? Maybe I'm getting lazy. All this typing here makes me feel like I've made enough effort to inform the world of the happenings in my family. Why go through the effort of hiring someone to type a letter for us too?

Rest assured though, that if you send me a Christmas letter, and it's written in third person, I will still read it and love it. I may only giggle a little that you had someone else write it.

To read something by someone much funnier than me, read this:

A Writer's Guide to Christmas Letters.


Ya'll do know I'm kidding around, right?