Letters to my children

Sometime last year I remember reading a beautiful article about parents who asked their family and friends to write letters to their newborn baby girl instead of buying her presents. The idea being that these letters would be kept until her 18th birthday when she received them all as a surprise. Whilst some of the loved ones who had penned her letters as a newborn were still very much a part of her life, others had sadly died. However in doing this small act, the young woman had such amazing treasure to carry with her into adulthood. Words of wisdom and encouragement from those that loved her most in the world- it's hard not to feel inspired at the thought, right?

Anyway, I LOVED the idea of creating a kind of time capsule to record some of our loveliest memories in and I thought penning a letter to each son on his birthday and filling it with all the amazing milestones they've achieved that year would be a really cool way to look back on our growing family in years to come. So, I've decided this year to begin a new little family tradition of writing letters to my children every year on their birthdays!

I guess I hope that one day I will pass all the letters back to the children to read for themselves and it fills me with happiness to think that they will have a physical reminder of their mummy's memoirs and love for them, even decades from now. 
Years from now they will read about and have some insight into their behaviours as children and all those funny little quirks they had as toddlers- all the way through to the challenges and arguments I am sure we will face in teenagehood. 

Earlier in the year, I bought myself a large notebook for this purpose and so far, I have penned two out of the three letters that I will pop into envelopes this year before tucking away for the future. And when the time comes, I hope my sons will regard their letters as treasures, just the way I do now. Already I can't wait to re-read them and to compare their changes and developments as time passes!

Mums and Dads, have you ever considered writing letters to your children?

Love,