Christmas photo cards have been out there for a fairly long time now. Parents everywhere have been enthusiastically sending out bright and shiny images of their beloved progeny on their annual Christmas photo cards. I have fond memories (now that it’s long over) of trying to keep two small children and one shaggy dog to stay still and all look at the camera at the same time.
There was my four-year-old son sitting in a child-size red rocking chair in front of the fireplace; such a warm holiday photo card, right? He had one hand valiantly holding the back of his giggling baby sister’s dress to keep her from crawling away, and the other hand holding onto our dog’s beribboned collar to keep her in place, all while smiling at the camera. The next year, I got oh-so-clever for our Christmas photo cards: put the tree up early and gift-wrapped three big open boxes. You guessed it: two held a child each and the third held the dog (with a facial expression conveying, “Huh?!”) My poor son had a bad cold so I put a little concealer under his dark-rimmed eyes and he wound up looking like a vampire child. (Amazingly, he grew up to be normal, despite these travails.)
Outside of the holiday season, I’ve seen some “Christmas” photo cards put to brilliant use. A friend who couldn’t get it together in time for holiday mailing sent out digital photo Christmas cards with an inside message saying, “Yes, I’m late! Happy Valentine’s Day!” A cousin sent a thank you message on a photo card, with our family’s group photo from his son’s wedding on the front. It was such a nice remembrance of this “family reunion” that I set it atop my piano for daily viewing. A business associate opened up a beautiful new facility in a new location and announced it by sending a photo card that pictured himself, like a “proud Papa,” standing in front of the new headquarters. Inside the photo card, his message said, “Thanks for your business and welcome to our new home!”
So, as I set out to illustrate, Christmas photo cards aren’t just for holiday sending anymore!