Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Over the course of our lifetime, we accumulate “stuff” that represents our history, experiences and the good and the bad events that have occurred during our journey through life.

I suppose I am overly sentimental and obsessed with ensuring my own children have keepsakes from their babyhood and beyond. Perhaps it is because I do not have mementos from my babyhood and toddler years that I place a huge importance on ensuring that my children do have treasures that they can appreciate as the years pass by. Call me a pack rat for my kids!

Photographs

Photos are a fabulous means of recording the life of a child.

For each photograph I take of my children, a copy is put into a special box for each of my child. The date and place is recorded on the back of the photograph in addition to additional names of others that may be in the photo. When my children turn 18, I will pass these photographs to my children for their own keeping.

Videos

A wonderful, realistic means of recording actions, words and developments of babies, toddlers and up.

The camcorder is an absolutely fantastic electronic device that I have become close friends with since my first baby. Not only do I take videos, but I also utilize video editing software to record music and sounds to the video clips to make it all the more personalized and interesting to others and my children. A copy of all videos is also put into safe keeping for each of my children.

Clothing and Toys

One cannot keep every single piece of clothing or toy, however, I have kept a piece of clothing and a toy from their newborn stage that has been given by a special person in their life such as grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, mommy and daddy and other special family members or friends. As the years go on, I am sure the collection will grow with favorite toys that they have cherished through their childhood or other “stuff” that will bring back fond memories.

Baby / Toddler Record Keeping Books

Recording the particulars of baby’s birth, date of their first steps, the first word spoken, a clipping of hair from their first haircut or all the “firsts” will be a wonderful keepsake for children when they are older. Every person is curious to know what they were like as a baby, what their favorite color or song was, etc. Remember, even parents forget such things and record keeping books are a great method of looking back and remembering your children.

Yes, I am probably Clean Sweep’s biggest nightmare but it is so important to me that I give my children a part of their history and I believe that they will be grateful when they are older and obtain these special treasures.

Personalized baby gifts and gift baskets are among our most popular gift items for newborn babies. Security blankets, baby blankets, plush toys and more embroidered with baby’s first name and birthdates are an excellent baby gift idea. Not only are they enchanting but are a fabulous keepsake gift that will last a lifetime.

Start your little blessing with a gift that will represent their babyhood and start in the journey of life. 

Give your child a blast from the past when they open the carefully constructed time capsule that you put together for them when they are born. They (and you) will have a scream looking through all the fun and practical items in the capsule. First, you need to find a container to hold all the goodies that you plan to include.  Some companies online sell a Time Capsule Kit that includes a container as well as some of the memorabilia suggestions. If you want to use your own container, use something that is airtight such as a coffee can with a lid or a brand new gallon-size paint can with the lid. Next include some or all of the items listed below. Be sure not to include things that are perishable or could smell (like food or drink) or things that have liquids that could burst or break such as batteries. You also should think twice before throwing in things that require technology to play them such as VCR tapes because who is going to have a VCR in 18 to 20 years?  Once, you’ve got the capsule filled to the brim with mementos, photos and letters, be sure to seal it up tight and put a ‘Do Not Open Until’ date on it. Many people choose the child’s 18^th or 21^st birthday as the open date. Store the capsule in a cool, dry place until the opening date. Do not bury it! Many a time capsule has been lost or forgotten during a move when they are buried.

1)   Photographs

a.       Pregnant Mom & her growing tummy

b.      Ultrasound picture

c.       Newborn baby photo

d.      Family photo with baby

e.       Photo of the house where you lived when baby was born

f.        Photo of the baby nursery

2)      Current Events

a.       Newspaper From The Day Baby Was Born

b.      Newspaper clippings and headlines

c.       Current Event information

d.      Fashion Trends

e.       Parents favorite movie, favorite TV show, favorite band and song

f.        Political leaders and how parents felt about them

3)      Letters

a.       From Mom & Dad talking about their dreams for the new baby

b.      From Friends & Family discussing current events, giving advice, etc.

c.       From Mom & Dad talking about the pregnancy announcement like how they felt, who they told first and how they reacted. Also include all the names you were considering for boys and girls.

4)      Factoids & Items from the birth year

a.       Include a stamp (that shows price)

b.      Include a coin from that year

5)      Cards & Notes

a.       Include a copy of the birth announcement

b.      Cards that people sent congratulating you on the birth

c.       Have each sibling make a birthday card and note for the new baby

6)      Baby Footprint or Handprint from a kit

This time when your sister, girlfriend or co-worker has a baby, give them something different and fun. After all, they probably will receive more clothes and toys than they’ll know what to do with. These ingenious and memorable gifts will be appreciated by the new parents.

 2 Week Dinner Circle - We all know that the first few weeks are so overwhelming that they just go by in one big blur so during this period of adjustment for Mom & Dad, put together a plan for your group of friends to cook dinner and dessert to bring to the family each day. This gift does double duty by relieving Mom of the daily grind of cooking and by giving her a chance to have some adult interaction with her friends. It is a great excuse for you to stop in a make sure that she is doing OK. Depending on how close the friends are, they could stay for dinner and then clean up to do the dishes or a little housework for an extra special treat.

Diaper Service Gift Certificate - When it comes to giving gifts to welcome the new baby to the world, giving the gift of time can be the greatest gift of all. Having a baby can be very stressful and takes a great deal of time. Diaper services can help relieve some of this stress so give the new parents a gift certificate for a week or two of services to help get them over the adjustment period hump. They have the option of extending the services as long as they’d like. They might love this gift so much that they’ll extend it until baby is potty-trained!

Disposable Diapers - Diapers might not seem like a great gift, but with the astronomical cost of diapers these days, this is a practical gift that will surely get rave reviews. If you’d like to dress the diapers up a bit and really turn them into a unique gift, you can make a diaper cake using instructions from someone like WikiHow or buy one online from Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets. Diaper cakes are beautiful, yet practical, gifts that are constructed from usable items so that nothing is wasted.

Photography Gift Certificate - Grandparents and family members love getting pictures of the little one so why not give a gift that’ll help offset the cost of professional photography? Places like Sears, Wal-mart and JCPenney have great package deals for baby photographs so buy a gift certificate to one of these photo studios and wrap it up with a beautiful 8″ x 10″ photo frame for a beautiful and unique gift that will certainly be used and enjoyed by all.