New Series: Greeting Cards – Some Dysfunctional Humor
April 29, 2010
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of the greeting card aisle picking up card after card and not finding one that is honest enough (about how you feel) to put your name on it? It happens to me ALL the time. Mother’s and Fathers day, especially are two of my favorites!
I am sure that I am not alone with regard to being “greeting card challenged.” What do I mean by that, you ask? Well, take Mother’s Day for example. It’s fast approaching and as is typical, I find myself perusing the Mother’s Day card section at the local CVS store. I begin very quietly reading card after card, after card……..and after card! Inevitably I forget where I am and start laughing and talking to myself out loud! I never seem to be able to catch myself BEFORE noticing that annoyed person glaring in my direction and wondering why I am having so much fun with myself in the card aisle. Now while I am not really close with my mother, I do believe sending a nice card is that little something that I can do to put a smile on her face. I like knowing that it will make her happy to find a card in her mail box. So what is the problem? I have this thing about emotional authenticity. It’s a pesky little thing that makes finding a card very difficult for me because I cannot send a card that says warm and fuzzy words that I don’t feel. I spend lots of time searching for generic type messages with wording like “wishing you a wonderful day” and “may your day be filled with sunshine and flowers.”
I’m all about the idea of sending well wishes for today and tomorrow, I just cannot use cards that are based on “thanking” for a great past that was not my experience. Are you with me? I have actually had some friends suggest that I just pick a card, sign it and send it off without reading it!
Here is another example – imagine picking out a Birthday or Father’s day card for a man that you did not know as a child, and are now getting to know as an adult? While I am thrilled that I now have him in my life and I love my father very much, most cards say things like, “thanks for always being there and for all those years of great advice” and, “you taught me right from wrong.”
Now, back to the laughing out loud part. I created a Mother’s Day card, inserting the typical warm and fuzzy wording you’re sure to find at your local card store and then hand wrote the changes that I would need to make in order to apply it to my past experiences.
Now For The Real Fun….
This new section is appropriately named: “Greeting Cards – Some Dysfunctional Humor” because we can all relate to dysfunctional families, right? You are in one, come from one or know one. This is your chance to have fun, get creative and say exactly how you feel on greeting cards. Email cards to Jennifer@fostercareinamerica.com and I will post them. A card is included below (front cover, inside and back cover views) to get it going and to show as an example. Here’s the best part, you don’t have to worry about offending anybody since all cards will be posted anonymously. Only a title will be included so make sure to give your card a unique and fun name.
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Very funny if it were not so true.