Eight of our sixteen family members have their birthdays in the months of March and April. That’s a lot of cards to remember to buy and stuff with a little green on a normal year. Now throw in a pandemic and things get even more dicey!

On top of that I saw on Facebook that Hallmark greeting cards are produced in China. Since China appears to be responsible for the unleashing of this pandemic on the world I feel I have every right to punish them by refusing to buy their Hallmark cards for my eight family members.

The Dollar Stores have greeting cards made in the U.S.A. and they are much cheaper but the sentiments on the cards are lacking I feel. I want the card to convey the right message be it humor, sarcasm or kind words.

So what does one do with such a dilemma?

To complicate the matter whether I fold and visit our local drug store and search through their excellent selection of Chinese imported Hallmark cards or travel to our Dollar Store and peruse through their not so exciting U.S.A. cards I must not forget we are still in a lockdown.

After all our governor has proclaimed the lockdown. He is a politician and when was the last time a politician ever made a mistake and admitted it? Needless to say I try to follow his request.

Also I’ve seen on TV where little children playing on swings and slides have had their parents arrested and hauled away in handcuffs!

If I was handcuffed and hauled away for card shopping my wife probably wouldn’t pay my bail and I’d be behind bars and never get those birthday wishes sent off in time.! 🙁

But I’ve failed to discuss the most serious danger of all. Do you realize the danger of thumbing through all those greeting cards and trying to find just the perfect one after numerous others have done the same thing?

It only takes one of those previous card seekers to cough a Corona virus right on the card I will pick out as my perfect birthday wish for my loved one. No thanks! I can’t take the chance.

Hey, I just got a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of it sooner. It will allow me to get personalized cards for everyone without leaving the safety of my own home.

I have my eighth children’s book being released in a couple months and it is titled “Nature’s Rhyming Riddles”. A future blog will undoubtedly fill you in on book information in the near future.

The book introduces animals in rhyme and the young reader must guess what animal is being described. It’s a fun read and I know the reader as well as the listener will thoroughly enjoy it.

If I can produce a book of rhymes why don’t I try to develop a birthday card with rhymes. I think I can do it! Here let me try:

I cannot venture out and purchase you a card,

Nor can I send germ free money which would be very hard.

So consider this your birthday card filled with a happy wish,

Along with a personal check that is free from that virus ‘ish’!

Now that is a “one of a kind” card that I guarantee you will not find in our drug store or our Dollar Store and I encountered not even one virus in the process.

My governor would be proud of me. 🙂

I should be exhilarated and a huge weight should be lifted from my shoulders. But now a new problem has arisen.

You see several of these birthdays are grandchildren living in the same family. The first child would enjoy the card but the second child might not feel too important to have received a recycled card for their birthday later in the month.

Wrestling with this problem for a little while I finally came up with a solution. When the families’ second child’s  birthday was approaching I would add a few more rhyming lines to personalize it.

Here is the final lines added to our granddaughter’s card whose sister had received the same card earlier in the month:

But I better not quit this poem just yet,

Or it will remind you of a card your sister did get.

So to make this card special for you,

We must add something that is very true.

Even though in your family you are the last,

Your addition to the family has been a blast!

Yep, as they say, “There’s more then one way to skin a cat!” And I think I just demonstrated an example. 🙂

If this blog has resounded positively with you and you like my personalized rhyming idea contact me and perhaps I can develop some personalized cards for you. Of course that depends (we end with a little rhyme here) if I’ll ‘have time to rhyme’. 🙂

Until next time.