My Toddlers Have an Email Account

My boys are three years old and have an email account. No, it’s not what you think. They are not emailing their friends for play dates or signing up for the Lego newsletter. I am certain they don’t know what the internet is, let alone understand that they have an email account.

The idea to start an email account surfaced somewhere between my affection for storytelling and my love of family tradition. It became real the evening after my child pulled the fire alarm at a grocery store. In one of my most mortifying moments as a mom a woman approached me with the most empathetic eyes and calming voice and she said,

 

 

This may be embarrassing now but in a few years you will look back on this and laugh. I am sure it will be a memory shared over and over again in your family, we all have those stories.

I returned home, shared my epic parenting failure with my own mother, my husband, and a close friend. My mother laughed and consoled me with a story about when I was younger. She reminded me of a time when I pinched a stranger’s nose and proclaimed—“honk.” All three of them agreed that this story would be told time and again and I should cut myself some slack.

It was because of that woman’s comment in the grocery store that I started an email account for each of my boys. These emails  serve as a way to document special moments, funny stories, and share the daily nuances of our otherwise busy life. Most importantly they serve as a place to look back on all the memories created in childhood. Let’s be honest, even the unfortunate and embarrassing memories need a place to be remembered.

Want to know what I have written so far?

Date: May 1, 2017
Subject: Current Obsessions: Ninjas, Monsters, and Hulk

 

Date: May 24, 2017
Subject: Updated Obsession: Silly Songs, Snow Yetis, and Lego Robots 

 

Date: July 7, 2017
Subject: For God’s Sake Poop in the Toilet!

 

Date: September 10, 2017
Subject: Avery Conquers Crapping on the Commode! 

For now my emails recap funny stories from a weekend at home, current obsessions, and the realities of potty training. When the boys are older we will turn over their time capsule-esque email account and let them read little snippets from their childhood.

What are some of your favorite ways to capture memories? 

Rebekah
Becka is an Iowa native who moved to Omaha in June 2015. She is one half of a higher education couple, a mom to identical twin boys (Avery and Elliot 2014) and two sassy wiener dogs (Nora and Knox). Becka enjoys the craziness of twins and the unpredictability of each day. Even with three degrees, most recently a doctorate in higher education, she continues to find herself googling things like “pachycephalosaurus + herbivore” or “excavator vs digger.” With two very energetic and curious preschoolers at home Becka enjoys the peacefulness of her daily commute to Lincoln where she is a coordinator in the Nebraska Business Honors Academy. Becka loves being outdoors in her garden, on the lake with her family, or sitting on the patio with a friend. Her kryptonite is diet coke, peanut m&m’s and a kid free Target trip.

2 COMMENTS

  1. What a smart idea! My kids have email addresses, too. We started them mostly for their hair cuts and doctors appointments. I might add emailing them their stories. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  2. Love the idea! What a great way to show the boys just how much you love them. Let’s be honest…. they may not have a box of notes they passed in schoo, but they will be able to have this keepsake!

Comments are closed.