{"id":6216,"date":"2011-12-18T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=6216"},"modified":"2011-12-17T14:00:43","modified_gmt":"2011-12-17T19:00:43","slug":"with-every-christmas-card-i-blight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=6216","title":{"rendered":"With every Christmas card I blight…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a nice gesture, cards are becoming a production number<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kelly Hockenberry<\/strong>, Columnist, UnionvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Christmas cards.<\/p>\n

In the past few years they have gone from a nice gesture to a pressure cooker for the world\u2019s greatest Glamour shot\u2026have you noticed?<\/p>\n

Gone are the days when you could run to Hallmark and find a box with a snowman on the front.\u00a0 Now, you look like a slacker if you don\u2019t have tri-fold high quality cardstock depicting your JCrew stylized family front and center.<\/p>\n

I CAN\u2019T TAKE IT!<\/p>\n

And, to make matters worse, I feel as if all of this newfangled \u201ccard etiquette\u201d is occurring right as my children hit adolescence.\u00a0 I am lucky if I can get them out of Walmart sweatpants and a hoodie for Mass let alone to \u201cpose\u201d for a holiday card. \u00a0Not to mention that one is IN braces and the other is waiting for teeth to fall out to GET braces.\u00a0 Are you catching my drift?\u00a0 I mean, they are cute\u2026but\u2026.$100 for a box of cards??\u00a0 Questionable.<\/p>\n

What baffles me are the people who include the dissertation of their family\u2019s \u201cYear in Review.\u201d\u00a0 I find this highly amusing. \u00a0Not that I want it to stop\u2026in fact, after a few cocktails many of them could be stand-up material.<\/p>\n

I have competing \u201cfirst place\u201d cards (and, if you write in the Comments section after my article some of YOUR\u00a0 favs, I will consider it to be your gift to me and you won\u2019t have to buy me anything):<\/p>\n