“Dear Charlotte,” it begins. “You’re here!”
I scribbled my first note to my daughter while she lay peacefully in my arms the day after her birth. I had searched for months during my pregnancy for the PERFECT postcard – and I packed it in my labor bag, and wrote on the back of it while I waited for Donald to come up from the hospital cafeteria with breakfast.
She rides me piggyback in the garden now! Not so little anymore…
Sometimes I write two or three days in a row. Sometimes I go two weeks or longer. The notes are always short and sweet and mostly filled with frivolous nothings. “Guess what, Charlotte? Your great-grandparents sent you a stuffed alpaca toy from their recent trip. It’s so cute! I wonder how people who work in stuffed alpaca toy factories get anything done when they’re surrounded by adorable overload.”
“I unpacked all your new fluff today and then put you in the middle and took pictures. Then I spent all day itching to upload what I *just knew* would be the most awesome-est photos in the world. I uploaded them after you fell asleep tonight and, well, OKAY, the mental image was much cooler than the actual pictures.”
“You went running into Grandpa’s arms today and gave him the biggest hug. It was the sweetest thing, OH MY GOODNESS, HEART MELT.”
“When we were walking down the hall, you saw your stuffed monkey on the floor in the bedroom. You got super excited, pointed, and exclaimed DUDE! I guess this means you’re definitely Californian.”
“I took you to the beach and you had exactly zero interest in the water. You screamed bloody murder every time I took you within fifty feet of the waves. Maybe you’re not Californian after all. Maybe you’re an alien.”
“Sometimes when you’re hugging Harvey, he shoots me a look like he’s being tortured and would I mind saving him? Please? LIKE RIGHT NOW? But then two minutes later, he’s following you around like a lost puppy, practically begging you to squeeze him so tight his head pops off. I take back everything I ever said about toddlers being weird. Cats are way weirder.”
When I started writing the postcards, it was just a fun way to fill my time spent breastfeeding. The time that wasn’t taken up blogging or watching nature documentaries on Netflix, that is. I got the idea from a magazine article about a woman who sent herself a postcard once a week while she traveled the globe. I thought I’d write them until Charlotte turned two and then I’d stop.
She turns two in a few weeks. Why stop now?
(10) Comments | Permalink
Filed as Sarah Photographs of Sarah Parenthood Motherhood Parenting choices Love letters Dear Charlotte Family life Family photographs Charlotte Love letters to Charlotte Photographs of Charlotte Charlotte's infancy; 0-3 months Charlotte's babyhood; 3-12 months Charlotte's toddlerhood; 12-24 months Emotion Love
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I remember reading about this idea and wondering what happened with it. I got excited as soon as I saw the title :-)
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I think it’s a fantastic idea and something your Charlotte will treasure when she’s older!!
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You definitely can’t stop now…those snippets of your lives together will mean so much to her - and you - in many, many years. I often wonder if my memories and my mom’s coincide. Your notes to Charlotte will ensure that you both remember the important things, like stuffed alpacas.
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cute idea with the postcards!
I keep journals for both of my girls. I don’t know if I will ever stop writing to them…
and now my 11.5 year old and I keep a special one back and forth….
tara -
So nice! Wish I had done that. I’ve kept weekly or monthly notes on my boys, but not messages directly to them. Such treasures….
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Alicia - I’m really loving it! When Charlotte was an infant I didn’t write very many to her because it seemed like…like nothing big was happening, you know? I mean, she was a baby. She did baby things. What’s to write about? I wrote that initial post about the postcards in the hopes that it would sort of inspire me to get going, to write to her more, because when I looked back at those initial postcards I wished I’d written more frequently after all. In retrospect, there was SO MUCH to tell her about - I have no idea why I thought there wasn’t.
Kimberly - I hope so! I think it’ll be a fun gift for her in a couple decades =)
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Agree, why stop! I have journals I bought while pregnant with each child. Sometimes I go a really long time without entering something, other times, not too long. Each time is just a little clip. I hope to keep it up until I’m ready to give them to them. When they grow up? Move out on their own? Get married? Expect their own child? I die? Who knows!! :) All I know is that I cherish reading my parents written words to me, and that it means so very much.
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Never stop…that’s my advise. My sons still say funny things, or share their dreams or a memory with me and I jot it down on an index card and date it. Once in awhile I will read one or two back to them and it’s joyous. Grown men enjoying both what they’ve said in the past and the fact that Mom has documented it. Quite wonderful. Never stop…
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What a glorious idea! I have a blog, for my daughter to one day read about her early years but the short personal notes from only mother to child… So perfect.
By Anthony from CharismaticKid on June 16, 2011
You should post some on here for us to read!