First it was everyone I knew getting married and sending out their gorgeous and meticulously chosen wedding invitations. I’d receive the invitation in the mail, write the date on my calendar, and then, well, I’d just throw the invitation away. I mean, I feel bad saying that I threw away these invitations because I know that my bride friend had probably fretted over the just the right shade of periwinkle for the ink, debated over “ivory” versus “pearl,” and spent hours pouring over fonts that they probably thought would either make or break the tone for their wedding.
I was not that type of bride, but I know that many of my friends devoted an entire year of their life to planning this blessed, (hopefully) once in a lifetime event. In that case, FONTS MATTER! and I’m sure they never pictured their perfect invitations amongst raw chicken juice and the morning’s coffee grounds.
Anyway, now I’m in the stage of life where, rather often, I get an adorable baby announcement in the mail. Baby announcements seem somehow more sacred than a wedding invitation with a cute wittle baby facey wacey right there! I can’t just chuck them in the trash! I know that two very tired parents either spent a great deal of money or time (or both) trying to get the perfect shot to put on the announcement. Many frequently interrupted hours were probably spent choosing the PERFECT announcement for this hard earned photograph.
In my case, there was lots of sweating and tears trying to get a decent picture of Carson for his baby announcement. With his colic, I wasn’t about to take his wailing self to a professional photographer, praying the whole time that he’d just be quiet for a few pictures, only to end up setting a pile of money on fire instead. Tate and I filled the role of photographer and probably took 400 pictures trying to get a shot that didn’t make him look like the newborn blob he was. This announcement seemed VERY IMPORTANT in my post pregnancy, always crying newborn, breastfeeding every hour and a half haze. This picture was Carson’s only introduction to my friends who all lived far away and I didn’t want them to think I had an ugly baby!
But back to what do you DO with all these baby announcements? I’m not good at organizing the photographs of MY OWN CHILDREN, let alone YOUR children. My current “method” is to either 1) put the announcement on the fridge for a while (a few days to a few years) OR 2) put the announcement in a “to be filed” pile. Those piled announcements never actually get “filed” because I don’t actually have a file for “FRIENDS’ KIDS PICTURES.”
What do YOU do with the baby announcements you receive?
(Here’s the picture we chose for Carson’s announcement out of the 400 we took. I think you can see why I was sweating and crying when THIS was the best out of 400.)
PICTURE REMOVED
I am a total packrat, so I have a file cabinet with all the letters and cards and stuff. It was only recently that I started throwing out cards that aren’t really personalized (just a “love aunt xyz”). For baby announcements, I usually keep them and file them away, but another idea I like a lot is to scan them into my computer and just store them there. That way I can throw out the physical one and still have a little reminder.
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The older my kids get — creating their own masterpieces and such — the easier it is for me to part with any announcements sent my way.
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I’ve put them on the fridge, in the filing and finally, in the trash. I do save Christmas cards, though, with the kids pictures and see them change year to year. I figure that counts, right?
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I wasn’t that type of bride either! We got married on my moms back porch. I called everyone I was inviting! LOL As for baby announcements, I put them on the fridge and there they will stay until I get a wild hair you know where to declutter. Then they may end up in a photo box.
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I feel a bit like a SlackerGirl, but I cared so little about wedding invites that I just got a friend to whip something up on his own and print it off on half-decent paper. He even folded them into cards for us, but you could totally tell that all the invites probably cost about $12 to make in ink and supplies.
I am either proud or ashamed to admit that my baby announcements were pretty much along the same creative lines. I didn’t care that much, didn’t “get” how they could be so important, and really didn’t feel like making the effort at a week or so postpartum. I let the phone tree do most of the work for me and emailed a photo out to folks.
I have a random envelope I’ve been stuffing with other folks’ baby announcements or baby-picture holiday cards. Can’t throw them out but don’t really want to keep them. *shrug*
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Oh my, I feel ya, sista. And my kid WASN’T colicky or crying, just sleeping…I just couldn’t get the RIGHT shot of him in his “baby’s first Christmas” outfit while he slept in his swing.
I gave in and just bought a little plastic tote a few years ago for just these such things – pics of friends’ kids, our extended family, etc. I figure one day I’ll get tired of looking at the tote, or realize how dumb it was to be so TIED to them, but till then they at least have a home.
Now, the extra photos of my own kids? From the studio, after family/friends have already received them? THOSE I agonize over as well. I have a huge studio envelope of them – HUNDREDS of them – that I just can’t get rid of just yet.
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I put them all on the fridge when they first arrive. Those from my closest friends live there until new ones arrive next year. Eventually, the others end up in the arts and crafts box downstairs where the children cut them up and glue them on stuff.
Some of them look better covered in google eyes and glitter, the rest….we’re not really sure who they are.
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That depends. Do you visit my house? If so, then the invite/announcement/picture might be on my fridge for a little while. If not? Well, it will sit in a drawer, or a box, or a random pile for maybe a few weeks or maybe a few years. The closer the friend, the longer I keep it. I have no real “place” to put them, which is why I end up with piles. I’m not good enough at keeping up with my own kids’ stuff, so I would feel terrible if I did so with my friends/family/random acquaintences!
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