Everyone’s children are smiling at me, a year older and taller, as I open my mail these days. It’s the season of holiday cards: the Hulls and the Halpers, the Barbers and the Aarons. Little notes are scribbled at the bottom – I’ve learned of pregnancies and moves, children’s achievements and parents’ promotions.

According to a recent Hallmark study, Americans send more than 1.9 billion holiday cards each year. Not me. I can’t think of anything more daunting than sending out a batch of greeting cards this time of year. It not only requires writing or labeling the envelopes, but also updating the dreaded address list.

That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate receiving them. As the pile of mail gets higher each day throughout December, I quickly sift through the bills to get to the tell-tale hand-addressed envelopes.

“Before I had kids, I never understood the whole holiday card thing,” a friend of mine said. “I actually thought it was a little bit presumptuous to send around a picture of your kids, showing them off. But now, with three of my own, I see it differently. I have friends from college, and old roommates that I haven’t spoken to in ages. I love to see how their families are growing. And at least once a year I know we will drop each other a note.”

What about when you receive a card from someone you don’t really care about? “So many people I know send out cards to everyone they’ve ever met. It’s ridiculous,” a friend said. “They use their holiday card as a social-climbing tool or a fund-raising tool. And sometimes I get cards and the people don’t even take the time to sign it, or add a little salutation.”

“I used to line up the cards as we received them and save them,” one friend said. “But now, to be honest, I throw them out. The pictures do bring a smile to my face. But all the printing and mailing, I have to admit, feels a bit wasteful.”

Another friend of mine can’t get her act together this time of year, but instead sends out Valentine’s Day cards. “Between tipping the doormen, going to 12 different holiday parties, and each kid’s school festivity, I barely have time to breathe, let alone take a great picture of my kids and send it to Shutterfly,” she said, referring to a popular online digital photo printing service. “But in January, when sanity is restored, I can take my time making the card and the kids really get into the whole Valentine’s thing. Also, I don’t have to worry about forgetting to send the card to someone, because I know exactly who sent me a card in December and I know exactly where they live,” she added.

What surprises me most this time of year is that while billions of e-mails are sent around the globe each day, some wishing “happy birthday,” some announcing the arrival of babies, very few people I know use the computer as a way to send out holiday greetings.

According to the Greeting Card Association, the trade organization representing greeting card and stationery publishers, the majority of Americans say they still prefer to send and receive a card during the holiday season.

“E-mail definitely doesn’t cut it when it comes to holiday cards,” an acquaintance said. “And as painful as it may be, the envelopes look better when they’re hand-addressed.”

I thought that maybe hand-addressed envelopes were just a New York formality, but a Greeting Card Association study two years ago found that 78% of consumers addressed their cards by hand. That sounds great if your handwriting looks like your child’s grade school teacher. But in my case, labels sound ideal.

“I love, love, love getting holiday cards, and my favorites are the ones with pictures,” another friend said. “Pictures of children, pets, houses, places visited on vacation, whatever. People take a lot of time to make their cards and I really feel like a little love comes out of each envelope.”

That’s the holiday spirit!

So if my friend sends Valentine’s Day cards, maybe I’ll send Fourth of July cards. If I start now, by the end of June they’ll be ready to be mailed. Then again, maybe they won’t.

sarasberman@aol.com