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Spread Some Cheer with These Holiday Card Alternatives

11/24/2017 By Veronica Jorden

If desperation is the mother of invention, I’m pretty sure procrastination is a second cousin. And I’m suffering from both.

It’s already the end of November and I still haven’t made up my mind if I’m going to send holiday cards or not.

You know, with 3 teenagers vying for their gotta-have-it gifts and plans to travel out of town, our budget is already stretched a little thin. And can we talk about how few hours there seems to be in the day at this time of year?

To make this holiday card thing happen I’ll need to:

  1. Coordinate clothes and beg/threaten/bribe my better half and kiddos to smile for a photo.
  2. Spend hours selecting the perfect holiday greeting, font and layout.
  3. Compile a list of all those who must and should receive a holiday card.
  4. Get the right number of cards printed, plus extras, because I’ll always remember a handful of extra should-be-on-my-list-ers after I print my cards.
  5. Buy stamps.
  6. Sign and stuff ‘em.
  7. Drop them off at the post office and hope that I haven’t forgotten anyone, I got the postage right and that they all get there in time to express my sincere holiday sentiments.

I know it’s not a particularly hard list, but the cost and time alone just adds another layer of stress to an already strapped-for-time season. There has to be an easier way! This year, try spreading a little cheer that is both budget-conscious and time-friendly.

7 Holiday Cards and Creative Alternatives

Do you send holiday cards? Why or why not?

7 Holiday Cards and Creative Alternatives

Use a Mailing Service

Many online photo companies offer mailing services at a price that can save you both time and money.  This option doesn’t allow you to hand-sign or include a personal note, so if you chose this option, consider following up with a quick phone call during the holidays or after the first of the year.

Send Post Cards

If including a handwritten note is more your style, and you’ve got a lengthy list, consider sending post cards instead of the traditional holiday cards.

Postage for postcards is a full 15 cents cheaper than a holiday card sent first-class mail. Sites like Vistaprint offer 50 full-color glossy postcards for $10!

Make a Video

Instead of holiday cards, consider recording a video of your family wishing those you love a happy holiday season. Sing a favorite Christmas carol, read a story, tell jokes or just express your heart-felt sentiment. So much more personal than a card and fun to make too!

You could make one video and share it with everyone or create shorter personalized messages for your close family and friends.

Make a Donation

This time of year is a great time to give back to your community or pay it forward.

Instead of spending money on holiday cards and postage, consider making a donation to a good cause on behalf of each person on your list.

Some nonprofits will even send out a thank you to those for whom you have donated. But if you chose this option, consider following up with a quick email to let those on your list know how much they mean to you. Be sure to include a link to the cause.

Just Call Them!

I like getting things in the mail, but honestly, a phone call and the opportunity to catch up and laugh with those I love is so much better.

Skip the stamps and spend a few minutes being present and in the moment with each person on your list.

Wait Until After the New Year

Often we all find we have more time (and money) after the first of the year. And there is nothing that says a holiday card must come in December! Give yourself some time,  shop the great late-season sales for some beautiful winter cards and use your cards to extend your good wishes for the New Year!

Next Year…Start Early!

Some of the best sales on pre-made cards and online photo cards often come at the beginning of fall. Put a reminder in your phone or on your calendar to start earlier next year.

It won’t necessarily help us out this year, but it might make next year a little less stressful!

Do you send holiday cards? Why or why not?

10 Tips for Joyful Family Photo Cards

11/04/2015 By Julie Provost

Are you planning to send a photo card this holiday season? A photo card is a great way to let your friends and family know how you are doing especially if military life has taken you far from home.

10 Tips for Joyful Family Photo Cards

Do you send out holiday photo cards?

If you want to send out a photo card, you will need to make time for a family photo and put everything together all in time to arrive at your friends’ and family’s mailboxes before the holidays. Worried about if you should wear matching clothes? Not sure how to keep the kids from crying and dog from burying its head in your lap? The whole process can be overwhelming thinking about everything you have to do in order to send out a photo card.

Here are 10 tips to help you take and print joyful family photo cards this holiday season:10 Tips for Joyful Family Photo Cards

  1. Book your photo session ahead of time. You don’t want to end up taking your photos too late. If you are going to hire a professional photographer to do your pictures you will need to allow them some time to get the photos back to you. Keep this in mind and try to book the photo shoot as soon as you can.
  2. What to wear. Think about what you want to wear in your photo. Do you want traditional holiday colors or something else? Talk to your photographer about what would look best. How you dress can also depend on your setting and where the pictures are going to be taken.
  3. Prepare. Prepare your kids for the photo session. Don’t schedule the photo session during nap time. Make sure your kids are well rested and if they are old enough to understand, tell them what you are going to do. Preparing them ahead of time will go a long way in helping the session go a lot better.
  4. Pets. If you plan to take a photo with your pet, plan ahead. Bring treats and water and make sure your dog can handle a photo shoot. Have a sense of humor about the session in case the photos don’t turn out exactly how you would like them to.
  5. Picking a photo. Picking the right photo to send out in your photo card can be a difficult choice. Think about what you want to share with everyone and which picture your family looks the best in. Try not to stress too much if the photos in the photo card are similar and go with the one you like best.
  6. Treats. If you know your kids will respond to them, bring some treats with you to the photo session. This worked really well with one of my kids. Every time he smiled for a photo and did what he was supposed to do he got some candy.
  7. Communicate. Tell your photographer what you have in mind for your photo card. You don’t want to get the pictures back and not like what he or she has done. If you can communicate what you are wanting in terms of a photo, you will be a lot happier with the pictures you get.
  8. Make a day of it. Going to a fun place to take photos for your photo card? Make a day of it. Take your pictures and then have some family fun time together. The kids will love the place you go to and you can tell them that is where you are going to go after the photo shoot is over.
  9. Arrive on time. Being late could make the photo shoot more difficult for you, your family and your photographer. The photographer might have somewhere else to be. Plan to arrive a few minutes early so you can prepare your children and be ready to take the pictures.
  10. Have fun. Try not to stress too much about getting your pictures taken. Taking photos is supposed to be a fun time for you and your family. Think about the joy you will feel once you get your photos back and send out your photo cards to your friends and family members.

    10 Tips for Joyful Family Photo Cards

    If you plan to take a photo with your pet, plan ahead. Bring treats and water and make sure your dog can handle a photo shoot.

Do you send out holiday photo cards? How do you get a joyful photo of your family to include on the card?

 

Parents Should Be Ashamed of Facebook Parenting Shaming

08/21/2015 By Julie Provost

Recently I have heard about some military spouses posting photos of other people’s children on their base’s military spouse Facebook pages. They are doing this because these children are misbehaving.

The children are doing things such as throwing trash in the park, picking on other kids or doing something else the poster feels isn’t right. I am not saying that what the kids are doing is OK, behaving that way clearly isn’t, but posting what they are doing on Facebook isn’t a good thing to do either.

Posting photos of other people’s kids on Facebook when your intent is to shame them is not OK.

Facebook Parenting Shaming Is Not OK

What are we teaching our kids and teens when we take part in Facebook shaming too?

Doing so is judgmental and you never really know the story behind why a kid is doing what they are doing. The better thing to do would be to notify the kid’s parent and leave things at that.

I know my kids do not behave 100 percent of the time at 100 percent of the places we go. No one has kids that do. I have carried a screaming child out of the PX more times than I would like to admit. Those moments happen.

We as parents do the best we can do to train our children. Sometimes they act out anyway. We can take those experiences to teach our children that we do not act that way.

If my son was throwing trash on the ground, it would be a good chance to teach him about why we don’t do such a thing. His photo does not need to appear on Facebook in order to get that message across to him.

I am glad that there was not Facebook when I was growing up. As an adult I can step away from the drama but our kids are growing up in a time where anything can be captured on camera and shared with others.

What are we teaching our kids and teens when we take part  in Facebook shaming too?

Doing so teaches them that posting like that is OK. Posting those photos is telling them that it is fine to single someone out on a bad day and make that bad day last forever.

We need to step away from posting shameful photos on Facebook. Whether a kid is doing something they shouldn’t or an adult isn’t dressed the way we think they should be, posting about it on Facebook is being a bully. We want to be the people who our kids look up to and learn from. We as adults should know better and do better.

How do you handle kids who aren’t behaving in base housing? Do you talk to them? Do you talk to their parents? Or do you post your complaint about their behavior on a Facebook military spouse page?

Years ago, public shaming might have meant standing on a street corner holding a sign. The kid who stole a candy bar might be made to stand in front of the store. Yes, people saw the child and he learned his lesson, but then the whole thing was over.

His face was not shared all over Facebook. He was not turned into a meme about good parenting. He was not shamed like that for years and years by strangers.

We really need to think about what social media can do to kids. We don’t want to make things worse than they are by taking part in the Facebook shaming.

When we see parenting shaming being done, we need to speak up so that the posting will stop. That makes for a better world both on Facebook and off.

What do you think of parenting shaming on Facebook?

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