# Christmas card etiquette question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-card-etiquette-question/740537 "2015-12-15T15:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-card-etiquette-question/740537/1 "2015-12-15T15:47:02Z")
I’m a tutor. I’d like to send Christmas/holiday cards to families I’ve worked with. (It felt nice to get cards from some of my families last year, so I’d like to send out cards this year.) I haven’t done this before, and I’m not quite sure how to do this. Is it appropriate to send Christmas cards to people I’m currently working with? People I worked with last year but want to stay in touch with? People who are done working with, but with whom I’m going to have ongoing contact? I have a family I’ve finished working with, but they still owe me money. I’m going to have to bill them again in December, and probably in January. But I still like them a lot and am looking forward to working with their younger kid. Do I send them a Christmas card, or is reminding them of me (and, thus, of their unpaid bills) at the holidays kind of tacky? Or should I just send cards to everyone? Am I overthinking this? The cards I got last year were from families I’d finished working with by the time Christmas came around. ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-card-etiquette-question/740537/2 "2015-12-15T16:37:16Z")
Your reasons for sending Christmas cards are all reasonable, friendly and kind, even sending one to the client. Sending cards to clients is something that many businesses do. I get one from my insurance agent every year, for example. So I say, send on! Merry Christmas! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-card-etiquette-question/740537/3 "2015-12-15T20:00:29Z")
Send 'em, man. Send 'em even if they don’t send one back. I send about 50 each year and get about 20 in return. But I still enjoy it because I like spreading cheer and spending time each year to specifically sit down and think about each person/family as I make out their card. It’s like sitting down to specifically pray for each one without the religious thing. Nobody will be thinking “Bob sent us a card because we owe him money!” Business is business, they know they gotta pay you.