Why I hate birthdays and how to make them easier

As a stay-at-home mum to two school-aged boys you would think I'd have plenty of time to be organised for all the family birthdays. Whether it's the cousin we haven't seen in years or my sister I can never be organised enough to buy a birthday card and send it in time for it to be received on time. I'm always late sending birthday cards and that's why I hate them so much, because I end up feeling guilty for not being more organised.

No matter how many times I set reminders on my phone about birthdays I still manage to forget to post, or even buy, the card. Getting gifts is a whole other saga but for now I'll concentrate on the card issue. 



Buying the card


First of all when a birthday is coming up you have to venture to a supermarket or card shop and decide which card you will buy. That in itself is a pain. For me, our local shop/supermarket is more than a mile away which means getting into the car and driving there. And even if I do do that I've still got to choose a card from the limited selection you often find at the supermarket. To get to a card shop with more of a selection I'd have to drive into Nottingham, pay to park, and then visit a card shop. And to be honest that seems like far too much effort just for a card. 





  • There is still no cure for the common birthday. 

John Glenn





So what I usually do is go to the supermarket, spend ages looking at the selection and choosing a card I don't really like because it's the closest one to something I might like. Then I drive home, write the card and put it into the envelope. 



Sending the card


Living so far away from family also means that I have to post the card, which again means leaving the house to go to a postbox. Unfortunately the postbox that is just up the road from us is far too small to fit even a standard birthday card so I have to either drive a mile (in the opposite direction to the supermarket) up the road or take it with me when I go on the school run, which I often forget. 



Did the card arrive?


The other thing I hate about sending cards is you never know if it arrived at the destination. On a few occasions I've learned months later that the card never arrived. On these occasions I end up feeling guilty because the recipient thinks I didn't send one. 

I have enough guilt being a mum but adding to that guilt with birthday card guilt is just silly, yet I can never escape it. 



Why don't I learn?


You'd think, as I try to avoid the guilt, I would be more organised and get the cards sent but alas I'm not. I put things off. I'm lazy. I'm forgetful. Whatever you want to call it I just don't do it. I ignore reminders, or I'll think "I'll do that later" and then forget.



What's the solution?


I often say it would be so much easier if I could send someone an online card, there'd be no wondering whether the card arrived, no forgetting to post it on time, I'd just have to remember to visit a website.

A website like Paperless post, which has a wide range of cards that you can customise. From birthday cards to anniversary cards Paperless Post is the perfect website for someone like me. 

On this site you can choose your card, customise by adding the recipient's name and adding your own greeting, and then adding their email address to send it. They have a selection of designs to suit all tastes and the customisation means you can make it look how you want.  It can take all of 5 minutes if that's all you want to spend. 





  • A birthday is just another day where you go to work and people give you love. Age is just a state of mind, and you are as old as you think you are. You have to count your blessings and be happy.

Abhishek Bachchan





Paperless post uses an online coin system, which you can purchase to spend on the cards you want. Or, if you choose to send a paper version of your card you can do that too.

I had a little fun playing around with the site and choosing various cards. 

The first one I had in mind was for a child, a fun whale card...




Once you've decided on a card you can alter the text, type in the recipient's name, and add who the card is from. You can then choose the type of envelope and the envelope lining. 

After all the design stuff is done with you simply type in the information, like your name, who the card is for and their email address. You can even schedule when you want the card to be delivered. 

Below are a couple more cards I played around with...

I liked this cake one, it's something I would totally send to a friend. 



And with the Hubby and my 10th anniversary coming up I thought I would do something for that too...

The Hubby and I don't usually bother with cards, we don't see much point to it. But as it is our 10th anniversary I thought I'd send him a virtual card, and this one sums us up perfectly. 

What I love about Paperless Post is once you've bought your virtual coins you could spend a while planning out your year and making sure you've got all the birthday cards sorted. You could schedule them all and not have to think about birthday cards again until next year! WIN!

Of course birthday presents are another matter, but I'll leave that for another time.

Are you organised with family birthdays or, like me, do you always feel the guilt?

I was sent some virtual coins to try out Paperless Post in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.