Why this New Jersey family thinks holiday postcards are a waste

The holiday season is always a time of year that is often hectic with little time to slow down. Just as soon as it begins, it comes to a close.

What seemed like plenty of time to get everything accomplished suddenly became this mad rush to the finish line. It's nobody's fault, it's just the way it is during the holiday stretch.

And sometimes, we forget to do certain things that we've always done in the past. But with so much going on in our lives who can blame us?

That's exactly what happened with this one New Jersey family. And full disclosure, this New Jersey family is my own.

Now before I dive into it, I'd love to know your opinion on this. Is this holiday tradition even worth doing anymore, or should we still make an effort to get this done, even though it's at the end of the season?

Tradition overlook

With only days to go before Christmas arrives, we realized we forgot to put together and send out Christmas postcards, a tradition for so many New Jersey families. But are they even worth the effort anymore?

Should we feel bad that we forgot to do this? Or, should we say farewell to this tradition forever?

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I'm beginning to think we shouldn't bother. In fact, here are three reasons why perhaps all of us should move past mailing out Christmas postcards for the holidays.

1 - They're time-consuming

Every year it's about compiling that list as to who we're going to send these Christmas postcards to. And oftentimes, that list gets huge.

It's almost like compiling a wedding invitation list. Who to invite? Who to leave off? Will it cause friction? And on and on it goes.

Then after that, it's all about printing and mailing those cards with the hopes they'll make it to their destinations before Christmas Day. It's a lot of time lost that could've been used for holiday shopping or decorating.

2 - They end up in the trash

So let's say you manage to get them out and they make it to their destinations on time. What happens now?

Although some people might keep them displayed on their fridges for a short period of time, the majority of recipients might just look at them. But ultimately, those cards simply end up in the trash.

Pause for a moment and think to yourself - how many Christmas postcards have I saved? Unless it's immediate family or someone extremely close, the answer's probably zero.

Much like wrapping paper after opening gifts. It's going to get chucked anyway so why put the effort in of taking that perfectly posed photo just to see it in the trash?

3 - We have digital solutions

Once we realized we forgot to do this, we went to plan B, which to be honest, should really become the new plan A. We simply put together a digital Christmas postcard that we'll share with our family and friends.

You still get to share that perfect shot, but at least then you save yourself from losing all that time preparing physical cards. Plus, your digital card would never end up in the trash.

Share it online, by email, or by text. It's the modern way to connect today anyway, so why not just go digital?

In fact, most prefer to share their photos online, so why should Christmas postcards be any different?

Christmas postcards rebuttal

Look, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from going old-school. We alone have started to receive postcards, but it's a little late for us to make them and have them arrive before Christmas.

That's the main reason why we're going digital. But based on the points made above, are mailing out those Christmas postcards even worth it in the first place?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Do you still mail out Christmas postcards, or do you consider them a waste of time?

Or, do you only send physical cards to those who are close to you, such as immediate family? Digital is so much easier, but it might not necessarily mean we should toss old-school aside completely.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.