I have a slightly unusual tradition that I stumbled into for my kids. Before my first child was born, my work friends threw me a little “happy pregnancy” party when I announced I was preggo. At the party, they had apple cider and donuts—because I’m from Michigan, and this is a fall tradition there that I really miss now that I’m a Tennessee girl. Anyway, the apple cider was served in this awesome glass jar that I knew would somehow be a focal point in my kiddo’s nursery.
For a while I couldn’t figure out what to do with the jar. I thought it might make a neat decorative piece on the dresser, and it did. Then, I came up with a way to make the jar be decorative and serve a purpose. I bought a pack of construction paper and some twine. Whenever my baby did something awesome, or I wanted to record an event, I wrote it down on a sheet of colored construction paper, rolled it up like a scroll, and tied it with twine. Then, I stuck the little memory scroll into the apple cider jar.
As the jar filled with colorful memories about my sweet baby, I realized that I not only created a really unique accessory for the nursery, I also began a tradition filled with fantastic memories. Someday, when I give this memory-filled jar to my child, he’ll receive the gift of all the fun and wonderful things he did growing up.
Since then, I gave birth to two more kiddos. I’ve carried on this memory jar tradition with them as well. It’s been a bit more challenging to write as many memories for my third child (simply because less time exists to concentrate on things). But it’s still a really important tradition that I want to do for all of my kids. My hope is that when they go through the scroll memories someday, they will feel extremely loved.