As your child grows, it’s essential to save a few items such as their school assignments, artwork, and others to remind you of how they were as kids. As a parent, however, you more than likely know that even though you would like to, you just can’t store every piece of your child’s artwork or other memorabilia due to limited space.
Nonetheless, you can use a keepsake box to store your young one’s most special mementos, hilarious artwork, excellent schoolwork, and other key items to help keep the memory of how life was for them while young. You can either use ready-made boxes that are designed for this purpose or make one that meets your preferences and needs.
Since a majority of the specially designed boxes are limited when it comes to storage space, it would be a great idea to use a Rubbermaid tub as a keepsake box. That’s in consideration that there are various sizes available and as such, you can always get the one that perfectly suits your needs. If your storage size requirements increase, you are free to either get a larger Rubbermaid tub or another one of similar size.
Should you think that a tub is not visually appealing, you are always welcome to use your artistic skills to spruce it up. Think of something in the lines of decorating the interior of the tub with special paper or adding stickers and/or other decorative items to the outside or inside of the keepsake box. If you are gifted artistically, you can opt to paint the box according to what you like or what you think your child will love.
It’s always advisable that you start using the box as soon as you can. This can, at times, mean adding items to the box even before you welcome your young one. Add items such as their ultrasound image, a brief handwritten letter expressing the family’s excitement, and anything else that counts. If your child has already passed that stage, you can use other creative ideas such as having them draw the duties that they will have in the house once they are older.
In case you have an adopted child, include items that can help them to visualize the special moment when they came into your life. Pictures and/or some document copies can come in handy for such a reason.
It’s especially important that you keep a record of every first moment that your young one had. A good example is a picture of their first day in school or the first time they were able to ride a bicycle without your help. Make sure to include the date. This comes in handy when being used for future reference. Include as many details of their first moments and items as you can – they will appreciate them when they’re older.
As a parent, one thing that you have to keep in mind is that your child can only remain in a certain stage for so long. The special moments come and vanish so fast, and a time always comes when you say “But they’ve grown up so fast”. For this reason, you should try to capture as many special moments as you can after which you get to decide which ones to store in the keepsake box.
One of the items that should not miss in the keepsake box is a picture of your young one when they wore their first school outfit or maybe their first Easter outfit. When your young one is old enough, they will love looking back at such a picture and others related to the most important moments of their lives. If you can, put a yearly class picture in your kid’s keepsake box, and be sure to note the date.
You can also add other school items such as paintings, drawings, and more in the keepsake box so that you have enough to cover every important moment of transition in your child’s life. Report cards also come in handy as far as reminding your young one how they performed in elementary school is concerned. It’s also an awesome idea to have your young one write a simple essay at the end of every year highlighting what classes they loved the most that year and why, who are their best friends, and what they aspire to be once they have grown up.
You will have to keep changing the important items that should be stored in the keepsake box depending on your child’s stage of growth. When they join sports, clubs, make new friends, or even start to date, add a few items, pictures, or whatever serves the best purpose of being a reminder of the great moments.
Once your child understands the idea of the keepsake box, you can get them to help with creating the contents of the box. Ask them to include several items that are valuable to them. Their input as far as deciding what items to include in the box comes in handy when it comes to preserving the memories that are dearest to them.
If they are interested, you can also encourage them to handwrite a letter to their future self and then seal it in an envelope. You will want to assure them that it’s okay to write about anything that they want to and that you are not going to read the letter without their approval.
Their keepsake box is not complete without items that remind them of the special moment when they graduate. To give you an idea, you can save their graduation hat’s tassel, a copy of their diploma, the best of their graduation day pictures, and more. At this point, you can also ask them to write another note detailing what it feels like to have completed school, what they hope for and plan for the future, and more.
While these ideas will come in handy to guide you on what you can include in the keepsake box, don’t limit your child to what you think is important to keep. Save anything and everything that is important to them, and have them actively involved in deciding. Remember that each child is different, so it’s okay if they want to save some things that you don’t think might be so important.
It’s also good to keep in mind that there is no opportune moment to open the box so that you can add items. You can open the box as often as required to add the items that are necessary to remind your child what life was like to them while they were younger. As you open it from time to time, take a moment to review the contents with them and laugh at their funny-looking artwork and other pieces of work that they created when they knew almost nothing.
Later in life, you can give the keepsake box as a wedding gift or anytime gift to your daughter or son, who will be more than excited to have a look at the contents and share them with the important people in their life. It’s also a great idea to open a keepsake box at a family gathering or another event where your son or daughter will be the focus of the event.
One thing you are sure of is that the keepsake box will be one of the most valuable gifts that your child will ever receive from you. It will not only always remind them of you but also the tiny yet great moments that they had while growing.
