Why I Set Up An Email For My Daughter As Soon As She Was Born

When my son was about one, the thought came to me to buy him a journal. In this journal, I decided to chronicle eventful things so he could eventually read from about them from my perspective.

If he did something unique or if I wanted to make sure he remembered something, it would go in the journal. If he upset me, it would go in the journal. If he said something funny or out of this world — as most little kids do — or if he did something new, like hit a milestone, It would go in the journal. Everything went in the journal, and I was quite proud that I was able to share my thoughts in the moment, as they happened. As you can imagine, it was a lot of work to keep up to date!

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I shared this concept with a friend of mine. He told me how he did the same thing — using email. He explained that this allowed him to attach pictures and videos could potentially be lost or deleted in error.

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It was a modern day memory box! My mind was blown. I should have thought of that!

As soon as my daughter was born, I created an email account for her and began sharing pictures and videos of first and memorable moments, which included sweet love letters.

This time, I did not just want to share my intimate thoughts. I included affirmations and explained how valuable she is — not only to me, but to the many other members of our village! (I did the same thing for my older son, too!)

Since technology can be fickle, I started printing the letters just in case. You may opt to let the cloud do its job! Assuming all goes well, my kids are in for a blast from the past when they finally log in to their emails.

If she were to check in on her memory box now, my daughter would get to see a video of her first steps and how crazy her mom sounded when it all happened. She could find the picture of her squeezing my neck really tight on my first day back to work, and she could read how it felt, having to leave her behind.

My son would be able to see a video of him dancing and singing to his favourite commercial of 2018 and how cute and passionate he was about it. Or, a picture of him knocked out from all the Christmas festivities — after he promised he wouldn't fall asleep (and no, it's not a flattering photo).

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Random moments, yes, but real raw moments, from when they didn't even know they were being watched.

This project will also be a great way for me to go down memory lane and reminisce on my experiences as a mother: the ups and downs; the laughter; the personal milestones achieved (or not). Who knows, it may even turn into a book someday. I can see it now: Stories From My Mother.

Potential book deals aside, this is a great way to connect with your family while creating a trail of memories that they can look over when they've grown up. It is also a digital heirloom to share with their families! And maybe they can carry on this tradition — as long as email sticks around!