When I was pregnant with my first a friend of mine with an older child shared with me a wonderful idea! She writes a letter to her son every year on his birthday and seals it in an envelope, storing them away for when he is older. I thought this was an amazing idea so I started doing it for both of my children on their birthdays. It is like keeping a once a year journal where you can relive the past year to them, telling them what they’ve done, what they love, and what YOU love about them!
I have found it sometimes hard to sit down to write these. I am always waiting for the right block of time with no distractions (and hoping I’m feeling somewhat inspired and creative!)…so I have definitely not been writing the letters right at their birthdays. Today I was on the subway and I realized I hadn’t written a letter to my son for his 2nd birthday in March. My first thought was to put it on my list of things to do. Then I realized it was the perfect opportunity to just write it right then. I don’t think you have to have the perfect time to write or feel like you have to remember everything. I think you can just write something…anything…each year to your kids and it will be the most cherished birthday gift you could ever give them! I imagine both my kids as adults and parents, studying their children with the same wonder and awe that I study mine…being able to read those letters from when they were the same age and feel the same feelings I was feeling when they were young!