Think of those heartwarming videos where parents dedicate years to creating something special for their kids, and you can’t help but think, “What a brilliant idea! I wish I’d thought of that!”
I’m not talking about the usual annual traditions like matching pajamas for Christmas or funfetti pancakes on birthdays. I mean those simple yet meaningful projects, like starting a journal where you jot down your thoughts and letters to your child, so they can read them when they’re older. Or capturing a one-second video every day, compiling it into a heartfelt montage to show them when they turn 18. Those kinds of ideas.
I’m 37 weeks pregnant and struggling to find inspiration online for something cute to start as soon as my baby arrives—something I can do before it feels like I’ve missed the boat!
One suggestion I received was to think about my own hobbies and how I could weave them into a project. For instance, if you love quilting, why not create a quilt with a square for each year that reflects something significant from your child’s life? Or if woodworking is your passion, you could craft a trinket shelf with spaces for miniature wooden models that represent your child’s interests each year—think dinosaurs, rocket ships, or whatever they love.
This got me excited about how my hobbies could inspire creative ideas, and I hope it sparks some thoughts for others as well!
I once read that someone set up an email account for their child and would send them memos, photos, movies, letters, and so on. They planned to give their child the login information when they turned 18. The child would then have a digital time capsule containing time stamped essential memories, ideas, and feelings in their own database.
Given their technological upbringing, I thought it was a cute and original idea. Furthermore, several parents report that scrapbooking or physical tracking is difficult due to their busy schedule. With an email account, it’s much easier (as long as one has internet access, of course) to transmit items in the moment.
We’ve set up an email account using our son’s name for future use, but we’ve also bought an external hard drive to save every photo and video we take of him onto, with separate folders for dates/ages, for him to keep when he’s older. This feels more secure and private to us than online storage.
I adore the notion of an email account, but am I the only one who worries if emails will still exist in 18 years? Remember how we communicated 18 years ago?
As an expat in a foreign nation (South Korea), where locals literally mock the idea of anyone using e-mail anymore, I had the same thought. To be honest, e-mail is already an obsolete technology that will be phased out entirely in the near future. I’d be concerned about creating an e-mail account for my children to use later in life (20 years or more).
I’ve heard of this one! The only criticism I’ve heard is that if your actual child’s name @ gmail.com isn’t already taken, save it for them to use later in life when they need a professional email address, but use a different email address for the messages and photos you collect over the years, either from yourself or other family members. That way, they won’t begin their email life with a cluttered inbox full with items they won’t appreciate right away!
I’ve heard of this one! The only criticism I’ve heard is that if your actual child’s name @ gmail.com isn’t already taken, save it for them to use later in life when they need a professional email address, but use a different email address for the messages and photos you collect over the years, either from yourself or other family members. That way, they won’t begin their email life with a cluttered inbox full of items they won’t appreciate right away!
Thank you very much for sharing this! I created a Gmail account for her to save photos, but I had not considered the email component! Moving forward, I intend to take advantage of this opportunity.
With the new Gmail guidelines, just remember to logon to that email account once a year or so; otherwise, Gmail will classify it as inactive and erase it.