Christmas Messages for Family: 130 Card Wishes to Write

The best Christmas messages for family name who the card is for, mention one moment you shared during the year, and end with a wish for all of you together. That fits in about 25 words. Below are 130 Christmas messages for family — for another household, for Mom and Dad, a brother or sister, in-laws, cousins and family far away, plus lines for the group chat — and the one rule for signing a family card that most people get wrong. For the children on your list, see Christmas messages for kids and Christmas messages for grandchildren.

What should you write in a Christmas card to family?#

A Christmas card to family works when the reader can tell it was written for them and not for everyone on the list. "Season's greetings to you and yours" could be sent to a dentist. Three parts fix that:

The shared moment carries the card. Families send each other a great deal of news at Christmas — promotions, school reports, new kitchens — but the line people remember is the one that says "I was there, and it mattered to me."

It is also worth writing at all. In a December 2013 survey of 2,001 US adults, the Pew Research Center found that 65% planned to send Christmas or holiday cards, while 81% said their families had sent them when they were growing up. Fewer cards means each written one is noticed more.

Short Christmas messages for family#

These short Christmas messages for family fit a gift tag, a photo card or a text. Each is under 15 words; add a name and they are ready.

1. Merry Christmas to the people who make home feel like home.
2. Wishing our favourite people a cosy, noisy, happy Christmas.
3. Family, food and far too many cookies. Merry Christmas!
4. However the year went, we're glad we went through it together.
5. Merry Christmas to the best bunch of people we're related to.
6. May your table be full and your evening slow.
7. Thank you for being our people. Merry Christmas.
8. Here's to old traditions, new memories and leftover pie.
9. Merry Christmas from our home to yours, with all our love.
10. The best part of Christmas is the people around the tree.
11. Wishing you peace, warmth and someone else doing the dishes.
12. Christmas is better with family, and ours is the best.
13. Merry Christmas! Save me a seat and a slice.
14. Love, laughter and one very long dinner. Merry Christmas, everyone.
15. We count you among our greatest blessings. Merry Christmas.

Christmas messages for the whole family#

These are for the card that goes to another household — your brother's family, your cousins, the friends who are family in everything but paperwork. Name everyone, including the dog.

16. Merry Christmas to Dan, Priya, Maya and Biscuit — the best house on the street.
17. Merry Christmas to all of you! The summer barbecue is still the highlight of our year.
18. To our favourite family: may your Christmas be as warm as your kitchen always is.
19. Wishing you all a Christmas full of board games, bad jokes and good food.
20. Merry Christmas to a family that always makes room for one more chair.
21. Watching your kids grow up has been one of the joys of our year. Merry Christmas, all.
22. Thank you for every Sunday lunch, every lift and every "come over." Merry Christmas.
23. Merry Christmas to the family who taught our kids to fish, bake and cheat at cards.
24. May your house be loud, your tree stay upright and your oven behave.
25. Merry Christmas! Your new home looks beautiful. We can't wait to fill it with noise.
26. Wishing your whole crew health, laughter and a little rest.
27. To the family that feels like ours: Merry Christmas, with love.

Christmas messages from our family to yours#

When the card comes from your household, the message can be broader — but sign it so the recipient can see who is growing up. These work as a Christmas card message from your family.

28. From all of us — the tall ones, the small ones and the one with four paws — Merry Christmas.
29. Merry Christmas from our crazy, loving, slightly sleep-deprived household.
30. Our family wishes yours a Christmas of peace, laughter and long naps.
31. From our kitchen table to yours: Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
32. We added a baby, lost a goldfish and survived a kitchen renovation. Merry Christmas from all of us!
33. Merry Christmas from the four of us, who love you more than the photo can show.
34. Wishing you everything good, from all of us with all our hearts.
35. Merry Christmas! The kids helped write this, which explains the glitter.
36. From our family to yours: thank you for being part of our story.
37. Love and joy from all of us, and a hug from the littlest one.

How do you write your family name on a Christmas card? Use a plural, never a possessive. The apostrophe makes the name mean "belonging to Smith", not "the people called Smith".

Names ending in s, x, z, ch or sh take "-es"; everything else takes "-s". If a plural looks odd — "the Joneses" often does — write "the Jones family" and the problem disappears.

Christmas messages for Mom and Dad#

A grown child's card to their parents is one of the few places a thank-you can be said without it being awkward. Name something they did, not only how you feel.

38. Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad. Every good tradition I keep, I learned from you.
39. Thank you for every packed lunch, every lift and every time you waited up. Merry Christmas.
40. Mom, your stuffing recipe is still the best thing about December. Merry Christmas.
41. Dad, thanks for still answering the phone with "What's broken?" Merry Christmas.
42. The older I get, the more I understand how much you gave. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.
43. Merry Christmas to the two people who made home a place I always want to come back to.
44. I hope your Christmas is as full of love as every Christmas you gave us.
45. Now that I'm the one wrapping presents at midnight, I owe you both an apology. Merry Christmas.
46. Mom and Dad, you are my favourite people to spend Christmas with. That hasn't changed.
47. Merry Christmas! Sit down, put your feet up. We've got the dishes this time.

Christmas messages for a brother or sister#

Siblings get the inside jokes and the honesty. One teasing line and one sincere line is the right balance.

48. Merry Christmas to my first friend and my oldest rival.
49. Merry Christmas, sis. Thanks for always picking up, even at 2 a.m.
50. To my brother: still annoying, still my favourite. Merry Christmas.
51. We fought over the front seat for ten years. I'd give you the front seat forever now.
52. Merry Christmas to the only person who remembers the Christmas the tree fell over.
53. Thank you for being the aunt my kids adore. Merry Christmas, sis.
54. Merry Christmas, little brother. You've become someone I really admire.
55. However far apart we live, you're still the person I want to call first.
56. Merry Christmas! Mom still likes me best. (She told me to tell you she doesn't.)
57. Here's to another year of being in each other's corner. Merry Christmas.

For siblings who are still small, the books in the shop where two brothers or two sisters share the hero's role — The Two Princes of Christmas and Two of a Kind for twins — make a gift both can open together.

Christmas messages for in-laws#

In-laws want to feel chosen, not tolerated. Thank them for something specific — usually, raising the person you love.

58. Merry Christmas! Thank you for raising someone so kind, and for welcoming me so warmly.
59. To my mother-in-law: thank you for every recipe, every phone call and every hug. Merry Christmas.
60. Merry Christmas to my father-in-law, the best barbecue man in the family.
61. I married into the best family I could have hoped for. Merry Christmas.
62. Thank you for making me feel like a daughter from the very first dinner. Merry Christmas.
63. Merry Christmas to my sister-in-law, the sister I always wanted.
64. To my brother-in-law: thanks for always taking my side in the board game wars.
65. Wishing our favourite in-laws a peaceful, happy Christmas — with love from us both.

Christmas messages for cousins, aunts and uncles#

Cousins share a childhood; aunts and uncles shaped it. These lines suit the extended family on your list.

66. Merry Christmas, cousin! Remember when we built the fort in Grandma's attic?
67. To my favourite cousin: here's to more summers like the ones we had as kids.
68. Merry Christmas, Auntie. You were the cool grown-up, and you still are.
69. Uncle Joe, thank you for teaching me to ride a bike, change a tyre and tell a terrible joke.
70. Merry Christmas to the cousins who made every family gathering worth the drive.
71. Wishing my aunt and uncle a Christmas as generous as they always are.
72. Merry Christmas to the extended family — the bigger the table, the better.
73. However many years go by, the cousins' table will always be my favourite seat.

Christmas messages for family far away#

Distance changes the job of the message: it has to carry the hug. In the Pew survey, 86% of Americans planned a gathering with extended family or friends on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day — so the family member who is not at the table feels it.

74. We set out your mug anyway. Merry Christmas from all of us.
75. Merry Christmas! We're making your cookie recipe, and they're nearly as good as yours.
76. However many miles away you are, you're at our table in spirit.
77. We'll call at three. Have the tree on and the kids in their pyjamas.
78. Merry Christmas from across the country. Counting the days until summer.
79. The house is decorated, the lights are on, and the only thing missing is you.
80. We raised a glass to you at dinner. Merry Christmas, wherever you are.
81. Sending a box of love across the ocean. Open it slowly.

Christmas messages for the family group chat#

The group chat is where most family Christmas messages are sent. A personal line gets replies; a forwarded greeting gets thumbs.

82. Merry Christmas, everyone! Who's bringing the gravy?
83. Merry Christmas to the best group chat in the world, even if half of you never reply.
84. Christmas photo roll call! Show us your trees.
85. Merry Christmas, family! The turkey is in, the dog is guarding it.
86. Love you all. Merry Christmas from our sofa to yours.
87. Merry Christmas! Reminder that the gingerbread house is a team sport.
88. Wishing a happy Christmas to every single person in this chat — even the one who muted it.
89. Merry Christmas, everyone. Thank you for another year of being completely ridiculous together.

Funny Christmas messages for family#

Families know each other well enough to tease. Keep the joke kind, and end on one warm line.

90. Merry Christmas! We love you more than the last roast potato, and that's saying something.
91. Our family motto: eat, laugh, nap, repeat.
92. Merry Christmas to the family that puts the "fun" in dysfunctional.
93. May your Christmas be merry and your relatives be on time. (Looking at you, Uncle Joe.)
94. Merry Christmas! The present is from all of us. The pie is from Mom.
95. We tried to take a family photo. The dog won.
96. Merry Christmas from the family who still can't agree on the right way to load the dishwasher.
97. Let's be honest: we're only here for the dessert table. Merry Christmas!
98. Merry Christmas! Remember, calories don't count when they're shared with family.
99. This card was going to be on time. Merry Christmas anyway.
100. Wishing you a Christmas with fewer arguments about board game rules than last year.
101. Merry Christmas! Please return our casserole dish.

Christmas messages for a family going through a hard year#

Some families arrive at Christmas after a loss, an illness, a separation or a job ending. The American Psychological Association notes that the holiday season brings stress as well as joy for many families. A card that names the hard thing gently can be the one kept.

102. We know this Christmas is a hard one. We're thinking of you, and we're here.
103. Christmas won't be the same without your mom. We'll be telling her stories at our table too.
104. Wishing you a gentle Christmas, and a new year that is kinder to you.
105. No need to reply. Just know you are loved and thought of every day.
106. New house, new town, same family. Merry Christmas — we can't wait to visit.
107. You've carried so much. Let us carry the dinner. We'll drop it round on the 24th.
108. Thinking of you and the empty chair. Sending love for every hard moment.
109. Merry Christmas. However quiet your celebration is, you are not alone in it.

Religious Christmas messages for family#

In the same Pew survey, 54% of Americans planned to attend religious services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. These messages suit families whose Christmas is about the Nativity.

110. May the peace of the Christ Child fill your home this Christmas.
111. Wishing you a blessed Christmas, wrapped in faith, hope and love.
112. We thank God for each one of you. Merry Christmas.
113. May the light of Bethlehem guide our family through the year ahead.
114. Glory to God in the highest, and peace to our family on earth.
115. Our prayer is that you feel God's love in every moment of Christmas.
116. May Emmanuel — God with us — be with your family always.
117. Merry Christmas! Christ is born, and our family is blessed.

Christmas messages for a family with young children#

A card to a family with small children should talk to the children too. Write their names, and the parents will read the card out loud.

118. Merry Christmas, Ellie and Sam! Be good, and leave Santa an extra carrot for Rudolph.
119. To a family that has grown by one: your first Christmas as four will be the loudest yet.
120. Merry Christmas to a mom and dad doing a brilliant job, and two kids who know it.
121. Wishing the little ones a magic Christmas morning and the grown-ups a lie-in.
122. Merry Christmas to the whole family, and a special hello to the smallest elf.
123. May your Christmas be full of wonder — the kind small children bring back to grown-ups.

For a new arrival in the family, there is a full list of baby's first Christmas messages, and Christmas messages for your son and daughter covers what parents write to their own children.

Messages to write inside a family Christmas book#

A book the whole family reads every December holds a message better than any card. These are written to be found again.

124. For our family, so we never forget the Christmas we read this together.
125. Read this every Christmas Eve, and remember who was on the sofa.
126. To the people in this book: you are our favourite story.
127. Merry Christmas, from the year the snow came early and all of us were home.
128. When you're grown, read this to your own family. Tell them it was ours first.
129. A family is a story you keep adding to. Here's the next page.
130. Written on Christmas Eve, with all of us, and all our love.

Why does a Christmas message to family matter?#

A Christmas message to family matters because it keeps the ties that keep people well. Three findings explain the weight a few sentences carry.

Strong relationships are a health factor. In a meta-analysis of 148 studies with 308,849 participants, published in PLOS Medicine (2010), Holt-Lunstad, Smith and Layton found a 50% greater likelihood of survival for people with stronger social relationships — an effect they called comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.

People underestimate how much a written note means. In a 2018 study in Psychological Science, Kumar and Epley found that letter writers consistently underestimated how happy their recipients would feel, and overestimated how awkward the letter would be.

Written cards are getting rarer. The 2013 Pew numbers — 81% of childhood homes sending cards against 65% of adults planning to — mean a handwritten family message stands out more than it used to.

Where does a family Christmas message last longest?#

Where you write it decides how long it lives.

A book wins because families reread books. A message on the first page of a Christmas story is heard every December the book comes down from the shelf — and reading it together, pausing to ask "who wrote this?", is the kind of back-and-forth that dialogic reading builds on.

How do I make a Christmas book with my family in it?#

Every KindFable book has a message page. In the printed book it sits on its own page under the heading "A message for" and the child's name, followed by your words, who they are from and the date. Several Christmas stories also have a place for the family: Mom and Dad, a grandparent, a brother — each painted from their own photo.

1. Pick a family Christmas story from the personalized Christmas books collection, or start your own at /create.
2. Add your child's name and age, so the story and the words fit the age.
3. Upload one clear photo of your child and tick the consent box. Your child becomes the character on every page, with the same face from cover to last page.
4. Add the family photos the story asks for — Mom and Dad in the parrot story, Grandma and Grandpa in the snowed-in one — so the family on the page looks like yours.
5. Tell the story box what makes your family yours — the dog, the running joke, the tradition — and choose an art style.
6. See the cover before you pay. The painted cover is free to look at; nothing is charged until you decide.
7. Write your message. When the book is ready, open it in the reader and tap "Write a message for" your child, type your words, add who it is from and the date, and save.
8. Choose the hardcover for under the tree. It comes with narration and a song of the story, and the digital book is ready the same day. Prices are on one page.

The dashboard keeps every book you make: reread it in the page-flip reader, play the narration and song, and reorder a printed copy for the grandparents or the cousins later.

Which Christmas books put the whole family on the page?#

• Your Child and the Parrot Who Couldn't Keep a Secret — Mango the parrot repeats everything, and on Christmas Eve your child, Mom and Dad each have a secret. Mom and Dad are painted from their own photos.
• Your Child and the Christmas They Made — snowed in with Grandma and Grandpa, the three of them make Christmas by hand. Both grandparents are painted from their own photos.
• Your Child and Grandpa's Christmas List — Grandpa's Christmas Eve list, a goat who eats everything, and one line at the bottom he can't read.
• The Two Princes of Christmas — two brothers, one palace cut in half with a ribbon, and a Crown Star only the two of them together can reach.
• Your Child and the Light-Up Windows — not a Christmas story, but a dusk walk past window after window of different families, ending on one idea: love lives here. It suits any family, any size.

Here is one of them, read in full. Felix is the sample child; in your copy, your child — and your family — take the parts.

Look inside

A book from our shop · ages 3–7

Your Child and the Parrot Who Couldn't Keep a Secret

Mango the parrot repeats EVERYTHING — so what happens on Christmas Eve, when your child has a secret, Dad has a secret, Mom has a secret… and Mango hears them ALL?

Shown here starring Felix, 7. Yours is painted with your own child’s face and name on every page, from $39 — and you see the pages before you pay.

Personalize this bookSee the personalized family book

Written from this story — not a stock track with a name dropped in. Free with every book.

How the story begins

1. 1This is Felix. This is Mom, and this is Dad. And this is Mango. Mango was a parrot, and Mango repeated EVERYTHING. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
2. 2“ACHOO!” / “WHERE ARE MY KEYS?” / “DING!” / “HA HA HA!” Which was funny. Most of the time. But NOT on Christmas Eve. Because on Christmas Eve, everybody has a secret.
3. 3Felix was making a snow globe for Mom and Dad. “It's a SECRET,” he whispered. “Don't tell anyone.” “DON'T TELL ANYONE!”

The rest of the story is in Your Child and the Parrot Who Couldn't Keep a Secret.

The words to the song

[Verse 1]
There's a parrot in our kitchen, he's as green as green can be,
and whatever you say to him, he says it back to me!
Dad goes "ACHOO!" — Mango goes "ACHOO!"
Mom says "Where are my keys?" — and Mango's asking too!

[Chorus]
Shh, shh, don't tell, Mango!
It's Christmas Eve and everybody's got a secret, you know!
Shh, shh, don't tell, Mango!
Nothing to see here — nothing at all! Oh no!

[Verse 2]
I made a jar of glitter snow — "SNOW GL—" — here's a cracker, quick!
Dad made a rocket in the garage — hat on Mango, that's the trick!
Mom baked a gingerbread house — "GINGERBREAD H—" — FA LA LA!
Now Mango's puffed up twice his size — he's wobbling, ha ha ha!

[Verse 3]
At dinner he took a giant breath — and everybody cried, "NO!"
But all he said was "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" — kept the secrets, bravo!

[Chorus]
Shh, shh, well done, Mango!
It's Christmas morning and the secrets can finally go!
Shh, shh, well done, Mango!
A sled, a globe, a gingerbread home — ho ho!

[Outro]
Then Mango said a brand-new thing he practised every night:
"I LOVE YOU, FELIX!" — and we hugged him really tight.
Now we're zooming down the hill, and you can hear him say:
"WHEEEE! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" — hip hip hooray!

For more Christmas reading, the guide to children's Christmas books sorts the classics by the age they land at, and the personalized Christmas book guide covers ordering dates.

What are the most common mistakes in Christmas messages for family?#

• The apostrophe. "Merry Christmas from the Smith's" is the single most common error on family cards. Plural, no apostrophe: the Smiths.
• One message for everyone. A line written for "you all" lands with nobody. Name the person, or at least the household.
• Forgetting the partners. Write the in-law's name, the new boyfriend's name, the stepchild's name. Leaving someone off a family card is noticed for years.
• The brag letter. News is welcome; a page of achievements is not. Pair every piece of good news with a question about theirs.
• Inside jokes that shut people out. A joke only half the table understands makes the other half feel like guests.
• A photo card with no words. The photo shows the year. One handwritten line shows you thought about them.