There is nothing like a classmate’s Christmas card to make you feel inadequate. It’s enough to drive you to fake your child’s handwriting…
My Inferiority As A Mum Writ Large
My Inferiority As A Mum Writ Large
Is it any coincidence that the first cards that come home in the book bag are the best written? Is there a causal link between a super-organised mum, who has sat her child down in November and got him or her to write the entire pile of cards, and the child’s neat handwriting? Is my inferiority as a mum going to be writ large in my son’s cards?
Neatness is one thing – my son’s writing is a little haphazard at the moment but I know it’ll even out in the end, and until the teacher tells me otherwise, I don’t see it as an issue at all. But willingness to write out whole cards is beyond my comprehension. I’m struggling to get my child to sign the short version of his name, let alone do the whole “Dearest Desdemona, most sincere festive regards …” bit.
All Jingle and No Bells
Some might argue, what on earth are six-year-olds doing with this annual burden anyway? I agree to an extent: it’s only fleetingly exciting for them to get a card – we all know that children only really care about presents (see The “Present Face” – Time To Get Practicing). So why engage in this social minefield at this stage? But I know my son is pleased when he counts out the day’s cards at home, and it’s nice for them to feel a bit special playing postman to their friends. And at this age, everyone gives cards to everyone, so everyone’s a winner. My truck with it is more that it’s a giant pain in the bottom.
The trouble is, while my son is very excited about his Christmas cards in the abstract, when it comes to actually writing them, it’s all jingle and no bells. I know how he feels, to be fair. I’ve had my Christmas cards for weeks but I just can’t get round to writing them. I used to love making a ritual of it – tumbler of Bailey’s, twinkly lights on the tree, chocolate tree decorations ripe for the picking. But since I had kids, evenings of such leisure no longer exist.
Fake It, or Take It?
So, I considered faking his writing. I even started to do so on one card. And then it occurred to me that perhaps this is what has been happening at classmates’ homes for weeks! It is not my inferiority as a mum I should be worried about, but my failure as a counterfeit. I bet half the cards we’ve received have the mum’s handiwork in them, quite literally. I reckon I could do it. I reckon I could match these master fraudsters. But what if someone did a compare and contrast with some other sample of my son’s writing and busted me? Someone like his teacher…who might then suspect me of faking his homework too (as if!).
So I decided to write the cards in my own hand and get my son to sign them. I’d rather take the risk that other families will judge us for him only signing his own name, than spend the next few evenings arguing with him over this grown-up tradition that we have foisted on him. In short, I decided to take the same approach I do with our own cards and his father…!
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I totally agree with this post, I have three kids, aged 3, 5 and 7 and writing out over 30 cards can be a pain in the backside to put it bluntly. My 3 year old obviously can’t write as of yet, he’s trying, he get’s his J to wrong way round but at least he’s trying, my 5 year old has just about grasped how to right his name and my 7 year old well let’s just say she’s a neater writer than me. But overall the past few years I’ve been writing them out because I actually enjoying doing it, so sad I know but hey that’s just me. I have tried getting the 7 year old to do it but after a while she gets so fed up and bored and can’t be bothered.
I think I may tried and get them to write their own cards (well their name ) this year.
Yet again a fab post!
Much love from your twitter follower @NR070315