Fall is in full bloom. The leaves are finally changing around here and we have some fall feeling weather. Grieving is hard work but even so I certainly have some laughs and guilty pleasures.
Here are a few of them:
- The American Girl Catalog: Maybe it is because I was once a girl who liked to play with dolls, but for some reason I can’t stop looking at it! I have not even ever owned an American Girl doll, plus I think on some level they are an elitist product that society tells us we need to buy our children but not something everyone can afford. Yet, I can’t stop looking at this catalog. I take it to bed with me at night to look up before I go to sleep. I gave some consideration to whether we should buy Mr. Man a $60 Bitty Baby because he likes his cloth boy doll a lot. We won’t be doing that and I eventually had to put it in the recycling bin because our catalog mail was starting to pile up.
2. Tiny Prints and to a lesser extent the Shutterfly catalog:
Again, I have always welcomed the return of the holidays with the Tiny Prints catalog. Their super thick paper and the luxury look of the cards have always made looking at their catalog a favorite pre-holiday past time of mine. [Just to clarify though, that while I like looking at the Tiny Prints catalog, I usually make my holiday cards on Snapfish because I have many years of pictures stored on their site and I have their app which makes transferring my photos a snap; plus it is more budget friendly].
But this year I have some new questions. Is it even okay to send a family Christmas card? My husband says yes because as he reasons, everyone likes to look at pictures of children especially a baby. Also what would Shirley do right? Shirley liked children.
Perversely, I searched the internet, last night to get some family Christmas card ideas. Here is one I saw:
One idea was a Christmas card combined with a holiday letter. It is a neat idea if you are having a normal year but it begs the question, how do you even do this if life hasn’t been picture perfect lately?
I am not saying people shouldn’t do this. I am just saying I won’t be trying it this year.
The deluge of catalogs isn’t what it used to be before the internet, but it is still fun. Do you enjoy looking at holiday catalogs in November and December. If so, which ones do you like?
Let me know in the comments section.
Hi Katie, this is your sister. As your know, two years ago my mother-in-law passed away suddenly. Now, each year we send out Christmas cards that include a link to our “married couple website.” As you know, in August 2016 Jonathan’s mom died suddenly. In our Christmas card that year, we included a paragraph that said something to the effect of, “2016 was a year full of changes for us. We said good-bye to a loved one. We also saw happy changes. We look forward to spending time in the New Year with the people that we love.”
I might try to write a Christmas Letter
I absolutely love catalogues too. I have many pleasant memories if looking at them at my mothers house- she was really the queen of catalogues! And here’s the thing- I smile now when I think about my mother. You can’t stop doing the things you like because your mom is gone. You are allowed to grieve and still have happy times-they make life worth living.