first birthday announcements - not party invites - wording?

[Anonymous]

I plan on sending a little DD is turning one announcement to distant relatives and others who could never make it to a party. Everybody asks for pics, etc., and some of my older relatives aren't so up on email, like my 95 yr old grandmother, so I thought it would be a nice way to let them see how she's doing. Also, my father died this year - not sure if that is what's making me get OP wanting to do this, but I agree its nice for people to get some good news when so much ugh news has been going around. I actually found these hilarious announcements at Trove in Takoma Park that have check the box type info, e.g., baby is walking, crawling, made for comfort not speed, etc. Why not try to make people smile?

[Anonymous]

Since I wasn't able to send out birth announcements, I had DD's one year portraits and mailed them out to family and friends. Difference here was that I used that as thank u cards. I was thanking them for all the love and prayers they showered her with in the past year.
This didn't seem weird to me at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I did send an announcement, and I plan to send an announcement for DD's birthday.
Since DD was born, my grandmother passed away suddenly and and mother passed away after a long illness. There has been such an outpouring of love and regular questions about DD (probably with the hidden agenda of checking in on me) that I thought sending an announcement would be a nice thing to share with those people.
I guess some people do this sort of thing via email, but that won't work for me and for this group of people.
I mainly want to share a cute picture of her, not troll for gifts. I know I could do the same at Christmas, but that's far enough away

Well, it sounds like there aren't too many like-minded new moms on DCUM. So thanks for your help, anyway.

I understand this. It's a nice idea, but I would definitely avoid making it a birthday announcement. Wait until the birthday has passed, then send a personal note reflecting on your first year as a parent and your gratitude for all the love and support from friends and family. Enclose a couple of photos. Or, if you really want to do something custom-printed, make foldover notes or 5x7 cards with DD's picture or pictures on the front and a blank inside. In other words, do exactly what you plan to do but don't style it as a birthday announcement.

[Anonymous]

Really guys? This is from 2010.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think it's necessary to send out an announcement that your child is turning 1. Birth announcements are one thing, but bday announcements will make people feel like you're asking for gifts. And most people don't expect to be invited to a 1-year old's bday party, especially if they live out of town. I wouldn't bother with these if I were you. A holiday card is a more appropriate place to mention that you child turned one during the last year.

on a contrary I had to take a plane and fly from CT to Minnosota for my cousins childs first birthday- it depends on the culture of the family- when my son turned one my inlaws flew here from Italy

[Anonymous]

Why is this thread being bumped?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there has been such an "outpouring of love and support" for you then the best way is to reciprocate and take the time to write a nice card enclosing a picture of your DD. Sending a printed announcement makes it look like a gift grab. And if we're not "like-minded" by pointing this out to you so be it.

Yes yes yes. This makes it more about them. The announcement makes it all about your precious little darling. I'd do some serious eye-rolling if I received a one-year-old announcement regardless of the circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Oh, just noticed this is old. This woman has been sending out "announcements" for 3 years now!

[Anonymous]

I have a preemie who was 2 lbs At birth. We aren't allowing outsiders to her bday party due to RSV season and instead we are sending out an update with her first cake smash picture to our relatives. I don't think it's weird to want to share info about your child with your family out of town and I don't see why people are being so mean about it. We plan on telling everyone about her accomplishments and current weight etc. I want to celebrate my child's life and her success and can't do that like a typical mom can because of the risks involved for my child so this is the best way we could think of. And in lieu of gifts we are asking for donations to march of dimes so people don't think we are "trying to get gifts". This is such a mean group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a preemie who was 2 lbs At birth. We aren't allowing outsiders to her bday party due to RSV season and instead we are sending out an update with her first cake smash picture to our relatives. I don't think it's weird to want to share info about your child with your family out of town and I don't see why people are being so mean about it. We plan on telling everyone about her accomplishments and current weight etc. I want to celebrate my child's life and her success and can't do that like a typical mom can because of the risks involved for my child so this is the best way we could think of. And in lieu of gifts we are asking for donations to march of dimes so people don't think we are "trying to get gifts". This is such a mean group.

This is a mean group, but I don't think that your proposed announcements would have been met with the same ridicule as the OP's did. OP's announcement sounded like a gift grab. Given the autoimmune issues your kid probably faces (and all of the challenges) it makes perfect sense in your scenario. Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there has been such an "outpouring of love and support" for you then the best way is to reciprocate and take the time to write a nice card enclosing a picture of your DD. Sending a printed announcement makes it look like a gift grab. And if we're not "like-minded" by pointing this out to you so be it.

+1. You owe hand-written individual thank you notes and you can include a photo. If thank-you notes were already sent, you can do hand-written individual notes with a photo. A pre-printed birthday announcement will come across as a gift grab, whether you mean it that way or not. If you want to do a mass-mailing, the holidays are really not that far away and, from the year you've had, it sounds like a Happy New Year sentiment would be perfect.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Ugh. I'm sorry. Didn't realize this thread was so old and didn't read though all the pages before responding.

[Anonymous]

Im actually doing the same thing for my son who is turning one soon. I totally understand about how u can't email certain people. And I'm not doing it to try and get gifts out of people. ...I'm only sending them to aunts, uncles and grandparents of mine that are out of state ..and I'm also mainly doing it to show off my sons cute pic..but also to let them kno that we live them and miss them and that even tho they r far away, they r still apart of our life. Its not weird at all. You do whatever suits u. Not every family/friends r the same as everyone else's. I like the idea.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe the cynics in this blog. What a great idea! In a day where we all rely on Facebook to make a personal connection with those who mean something to us, I think it would be a neat surprise to actually receive a card announcment in the mail. You know where your heart is and anyone thinking that you were fishing for gifts would probably have an issue with anything else you did. This is a nice momento that can be cherished. I hope you didn't listen to the nay sayers!

[Anonymous]

Make it more like a thank you card: "Thank you for filling my first year with such love." Something like that. And if they're out of towners, then you can add, "We can't wait for you to meet Larla."