Why I Send Christmas Cards

Mailing Christmas cards to your friends, co-workers, and family members is old-fashioned, redundant, and time-consuming. In our social media-centered society, many argue that it is more appropriate to update your status with a “Ho ho ho! Happy Holidays!” and a Santa hat-sporting selfie. These glad tidings are done with one click and available to your social media followers instantly.

It’s easier, faster, and more efficient. Right? Wrong. Today I am the ghost of Christmas past urging you to put down your preferred electronic device and pick up a no-batteries-needed pen.

Here are my top three arguments why you should send a Christmas card.

Christmas card humbug: It’s old-fashioned.

Christmas card cheer: It’s classic.

Receiving a red envelope in your mailbox is classic. It’s thoughtful communication that you hold in your hands. When you look at this card, you have a moment to focus on your friend living miles away. When was the last time that happened?

I recommend selecting a Christmas card that reflects your personality. It may be retro cards with a sassy message inside. It may be a family newsletter detailing your adventures and disasters from the last 12 months. It may be a photo taken at a wedding or family vacation. Embrace this project as an opportunity to flex your creativity muscles.

Christmas card humbug: It’s redundant.

Christmas card cheer: It’s memorable.

Yes, I am constantly hooked to social media. But I rarely recall anything that I skimmed on my computer. For example, I can’t remember the last book my sister reviewed on GoodReads, but after I read her top five book recommendations for 2012 in her Christmas letter, I planned to read those books in 2013.

It’s a useful mental exercise to reflect on the past year. What were the highlights? What were the challenges? My heart is warmed when a friend pens a personal message in her card for me, not for mass consumption.  

Christmas card humbug: It’s time-consuming.

Christmas card cheer: You will be done before Zuzu says “Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

To make addressing Christmas cards a joyful multi-tasking experience, I watch a favorite holiday movie (the one that I have every word memorized) while signing my name and placing the stamps in the envelope corners.

Still too busy to send Christmas cards or a letter? My friend once sent a 22-word message. It read “2011 was a very big year for us. WE HAD A BABY! That’s all we have time to write. Happy Holidays!”

It’s one of my all-time favorite Christmas cards.

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Part-time writer, full-time Navy spouse Michelle Volkmann is currently stationed near Monterey, California. She spends all year mentally planning her Christmas letter. Then she stays awake until 3 a.m. on December 14 writing it, printing it and sending it to 150 of her closest friends and family members.

 This article was first published December 18, 2013, at Military One Click.

5 Tips for Sending Baked Goods Overseas

Picture the disappointment. Your Marine’s misfortune when a box of “Sent with Love” chocolate cookies arrives melted onto his children’s photos. Your sailor’s sadness when she discards moldy brownies mailed from Grandma. Your soldier’s irritation when faced with a pile of cookie crumbs that can’t be salvaged.

This Christmas, you want to send edible love packaged in the perfect cookie. Follow these five simple tips to avoid the common cookie delivery problems: moldy, melted, and broken.

1. Choose Your Cookies

You want sturdy cookies that can handle the long-distance travel. The best choices are chocolate chip oatmeal, peanut butter, gingersnaps, and snickerdoodles. Now is not the time to attempt to replicate your great-grandmother’s sugar cookie recipe. Instead, use a fool-proof recipe found on the chocolate chip packaging.

Are there any baked goods that you shouldn’t send? Yes, anything that requires refrigeration is best saved for the homecoming celebration.

2. Bake Your Cookies

Use a small scoop to make the cookies uniform. The cookies will bake evenly and be easier to pack, once they have cooled completely. Experienced military spouses recommend removing the cookies a minute early from the oven. Soft cookies retain their freshness longer than dry cookies.

3. Pack Your Cookies

My grandmother has shipped cookies around the world for 30 years. She is a firm believer in an air-tight and sturdy tin. You can purchase affordable ones at discount stores. She puts parchment paper between each cookie layer. She doesn’t overfill the tin. Then she nestles this tin into a separate box with a generous amount of packing peanuts to cushion it. Her cookies never arrive broken.

You may also consider sending cookies in a Pringles can or stacking them sideways in a rectangular plastic container. Aim to replicate the methods used by food manufacturers. If Nabisco uses it for Oreos, try a similar method for your cookie delivery.

Toiletries should be packed separately from cookies; otherwise your cookies may arrive smelling like soap.

4. No Stale Cookies

It can take up to two weeks for packages to arrive at operating bases overseas. Place a piece of bread in the container with the cookies. When the package arrives, the bread will be stale and your cookies will be fresh.

5. No Guessing Game

Clearly label the package to avoid any delays. The U.S. Postal Service also recommends labeling the box  as “fragile” and “perishable food” in three places: above the address, below the postage stamp, and on the back or bottom of the package.

Within the box, place a note if any cookies contain nuts or peanut butter.

Finally, the deadline for sending cookies overseas is December 7 to guarantee a Christmas arrival. But I’m sure most service members will gladly accept home-baked goodness any day of the year.

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Part-time writer, full-time Navy spouse Michelle Volkmann is currently stationed near Monterey, California. For the last three years, she has baked several dozen sugar cookies. She hasn’t baked a perfect one yet, but she will try again this holiday season.

This article was first published December 6, 2013, at Military One Click.

Questions Answered: A Review of Toddler 411

Toddler 411, second edition by Denise Fields and Ari Brown, M.D.

Pages: 407

Reading Days: Less than 1 day

Sassy Summary: This no-nonsense reference guide aims to save its reader a trip to the doctor’s office by providing easy-to-find answers to common questions (How Often Should My Child Pee?) to advice on handling Picky Eaters. Success! The index and glossary are comprehensive. It’s funny. It’s smart. It’s reassuring. My only complaint is that the organic food recommendations gave me anxiety and made me afraid to put anything in my child’s mouth.

Quotable Writing: Follow the “Two Stop” Rule. Getting in and out of your car with a toddler is an experience itself. With our kids, we always had a two stop rule for Saturday errands–that is, if you have to stop the car more than twice to do errands, you are asking for trouble.

Cheetah or Snail? Cheetah. I skimmed this book in one evening.

Buy or Borrow? Buy. Give it as a gift to a mother on her child’s first birthday.

Book Club Discussion Generator? Negative.

Who should read it? Any caregiver for a child between the ages of 1 and 4 years old.

Write Now, Fold Laundry Later: A Review of Pen on Fire

Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Pages: 258

Reading Days: 4 days

Sassy Summary: The book is compilation of interviews with writers from DeMarco-Barrett’s radio show, along with her advice and writing prompts and exercises. It started slow, gained speed (and my interest) and then it lost steam toward the end. Her section on “Overcoming the Obstacles” provided valuable insight on how to organize yourself (and avoid housework) when working at home. I may return to this book for encouragement on frustrating days or to think creatively through her writing exercises.

Quotable Writing: “Journals can be a legacy for those you love. They are also like a savings account; the details you’ve recorded—what something looked like, smelled like, what someone said— might be just what you need for a future piece of work or for inspiration .”

Cheetah or Snail? Cheetah (a quick read).

Buy or Borrow? Buy a used copy.

Book Club Discussion Generator? For a writing group. Maybe.

Who should read it? Newbie female fiction writers who want to take a community college writing class, but can’t afford the tuition.

Scary Good: A Review of Dark Places

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Pages: 343

Reading Days:  30 days. I started the book twice. I stopped reading because I was too scared to keep reading at night.

Sassy Summary: Can Gillian Flynn read thoughts? For as long as I can remember I have had a recurring nightmare where my family is murdered in my parent’s farmhouse while I’m hiding under my bed. “Dark Places” is a thriller based on that fear. It’s eerie. I refused to read it at night. If I was alone, I would sleep with the lights on, just like the main character, Libby Day. I haven’t been this scared since reading Stephen King in high school. I’m returning it to the library today. I don’t want that book in my house anymore.

Quotable Writing: “I’d woken up from a miserable dream, the kind you keep telling yourself doesn’t mean anything, shouldn't bother you because it’s just a dream, just a dream.”

Cheetah or Snail? Not as fast paced as I expected from Flynn. First half is slow moving.

Buy or Borrow? Borrow. After you’ve read “Gone Girl” and “Sharp Objects.”

Book Club Discussion Generator? Definitely.

Who should read it? Stephen King fans