My friends’ son Evan recently turned two years old. It feels like just yesterday I was holding him as a newborn. It’s amazing how time flies!
Evan’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends all gathered for a birthday party, where we showered him with food, presents, and personalized birthday cards. His parents helped him carefully look at the greeting cards before letting him tear through the pile of gifts. My friends like to keep all of the greeting cards given to their son so he can look at them when he’s older and see how much everyone loves him. They even keep the little paper holder I make to accompany the cash gift my husband and I always give him “For the College Fund.” They want Evan to appreciate the thoughtful sentiments extended to him, and greeting cards are perfect for showing that affection.
I also hold on to my greeting cards for sentimental value (and because I tend to be a pack rat!). I don’t go through the greeting cards very often but when I do it’s entertaining. The collection of birthday cards, thank you cards, Christmas cards, wedding invitations and other various greeting cards is almost like a time capsule, bringing me back to a particular year and evoking memories of what I was doing at that point in my life. Much like photographs, greeting cards have the ability to capture moments in time.
During Evan’s birthday party, we of course took plenty of photos to capture that particular moment in time. When he is older, I bet it will be interesting for him to go through all of the birthday cards, Christmas cards and other assorted greeting cards that were given to him over the years. And the older he gets, he’ll likely come to realize how fast time goes by just like the rest of us!
this is a great thing to do for your kids! i used to throw everything away. it never occurred to me to save the cards my kids received over the years until my mom was going through some old stuff and started showing me cards she had saved. cards from when i was born, my christening, my birthdays, you name it. it was so nice to see cards from great grandparents that i could no longer remember! but best of all was a card from my dad who had recently passed away. it means so much to me now. your kids will thank you for it later on.
I’m upwards of forty years old and I still have almost every one of the birthday cards that my father has sent me over the years. My parents have been divorced for ever. I don’t intentionally save them it’s just that I can’t throw them away. And I don’t save all of my cards, just the ones my father sends me. He always addresses them: My Dearest and signs: All my love, Dad. The cards are always the serious kind, from father to daughter, never the silly ones. My father is turning 86 this July and I know one day I will be so glad I saved those cards.