“Where did the time go?”
“It’s already fall?”
“You grew up way too fast!”
Either we’ve heard these phrases, or have said them ourselves countless times. Each year, time seems to go just a little bit quicker.
Family history is a treasured piece of our fabric. It’s woven with things like photos, stories, information about family members and mementos that are a reminder of special events and activities. For most parents and grandparents, learning about family history when they were little meant looking at photo albums, watching old family movies, combing through boxes filled with family memorabilia or listening to older relatives talk about “back in the day.”
Learning about the everyday lives of our grandparents was fun! Seeing their high school photos may have made you look inward, thinking “What will my life be like at that age?” Seeing a high school pennant may have prompted them to share a memory from playing a sport or a special school event they attended with friends. These conversations create stronger bonds and an opportunity to talk about life.
Today, parents capture memories from the time their kids are infants with the convenience of a phone. How many photos and videos do you have stored on your phone? Rarely do photos make it out of our phone, though, and into a place everyone in the family can access them and share stories surrounding them. This part of sharing family history is becoming lost.
When your kids are your age, and when you’re the same age your parents are now, maybe you’ll be sitting together talking about how life was ‘back in the day’. The conversation might go something like this:
“Dad, do you remember how much I wanted to be a marine biologist?”
“Sort of, but I really remember you wanting to be an astronaut. That’s why you went to space camp!”
“Well, space camp was a lot of fun. But I remember doing my entire science project on different kinds of sand from beaches around the world. We even called your friend in New Zealand to send us some!”
“You know what, I do remember! You won a blue ribbon, I was really proud of you.”
Everyone has their own memories of the past. If only we could reach up on our shelves, pull down a history book, and see for ourselves. Better yet, if we could actually see a year’s worth of artifacts— the medals our kids won at swim meets, their drawings we hung on the fridge, a unique shell we found on a beach vacation, all 12 ‘pictures of the month’, and letters we wrote ourselves way back when. What A Year is just that, and stores conveniently on your bookshelf, ready to blast you and your family to the past at any time. Read on to learn about the things that make What A Year special:
What’s In the Memory Box?
As soon as you open the cover of your What A Year box, you’ll see a fun assortment of memory making tools. The first stitch in the fabric of your year’s story is the “all about me” sheet. Write down things about yourself from the past year, your favorite food, color, song, and event. Everyone fills one out, and stores it in the box. For extra fun, each person in the family can go around and guess what everyone else wrote before the box is closed. (And, there are plenty of sheets to include grandparents or other relatives in the fun.)
Next, get ready to write down any and all of your hopes and dreams, by writing a letter to your future self. From the places you hope to have visited, to the new things you hope you’ve learned—now’s the time to plan! Share your goals with your family, so everyone can help make them a reality.
Capture stories, quotes, or funny experiences from throughout the year using memory notes, and store them all together to read a couple of years down the road. Along with notes, taking pictures is always one of the most fun ways to remember the good times. Keep your favorite pictures from the year in the photo keeper.
Use the storage space in the box as the designated space to keep the things that made your year special. Read the list below for some ideas of what to keep here:
Tips, Tricks, and Fun Ways To Make Memories
- Treat your box like a time capsule, and don’t open it for a handful of years
- Save one item from each season of the year
- Make a family playlist, and write down all of the best songs you listened to that year
- Take a picture of each person’s favorite gift from the year, then put them in the box to remember later
- Save things like concert tickets, airplane boarding passes, and event programs to remember all the places you went together
- Take turns drawing pictures of each other to look at later
- Let everyone write down their favorite quote of the year using the memory notepad
- Work together to think of a title that represents your year’s story, then write it on the title card to display on the outer cover of your box
Questions and Answers:
Q: If I get a new box each year, how can I tell which is which?
A: Each cover and spine of your box has a removable notecard, where you can write which year you’re remembering, or give your memories a title.
Q: Does the box have a seal on it, so our memories are inaccessible when we’re done filling the box?
A: No, memories will be accessible at any time. There is an elastic band on the outer cover to keep everything securely in place, but opening the box will not damage it.
Q: What are some other ways I can use the box?
A: While it’s designed for families, friend groups, couples, extended families, school classes, or coworkers would have just as much fun capturing memories year after year.
Q: How big is the storage box?
A: The box is 11.75”x9”x1.75”.
