Christmas Cards and Family Pictures

Like many we get our share of Christmas cards from friends and family. I enjoy getting them because they're often accompanied by short (and sometimes not so short) notes about what they've been doing for the last year. Many also include pictures, which allow us to see how people have changed and grown. One tendency I've noticed is that when peoples' kids are young, the cards often contain picture(s) of the entire family, but as the kids get older, they sometimes only contain pictures of the kids.

Why is that? Are people embarrassed what they look like as they age? Heck, we're all getting older; it's a part of life. I don't think there's a Benjamin Button among us (although there was a girl at my recent high school reunion that appeared to be heading in a different direction than the rest of us). Do they think we only want to see what their kids look like? I certainly don't. It's not that I don't care what their kids look like. I do care, and I am interested, but I also want to see what my friends and family look like. I don't think I'm alone in this.

Just saying.