Memory/keepsake boxes

I think memory boxes work best when they are a mix of a few physical bits and one or two written things, rather than trying to keep everything.

The obvious items are things like the hospital band, a first outfit, cards, photos, and any tiny bits that instantly remind you of that stage. But I would always add a short dated note as well, even if it is only a paragraph about what they were like then or what that month felt like. That is usually the piece that ends up feeling most personal later.

Keeping the box small helps too. If it has unlimited space it can turn into a general storage dump, whereas a smaller box makes you choose the things you will genuinely want to look back on.

I have a memory box, it has first babygrow &vest that they wore, baptism outfits, curl from first haircut, all their scan photos, a photo of them when they were first born in the hospital, first pair of shoes (or what's left of them) and their hospital tags. Cord stumps and teeth is a bit ew for me! Anything organic other than hair is a step too far!

My dc both have them, a few baby things um wrist band, blanket and first shoes, but I use them to put stuff in I can't throw away but don't want around. I also put all the cards and notes they do for me in there and all the certificates from school and gymnastic awards and badges. Just find it a easy place to keep that kind of clutter that you feel bad about chucking away.

No manky teeth or cords or fisrt lock of hair crap though!

We have kept a box but mainly because he was so small that I kept his smallest clothes and that started the ball rolling. Kept his cord clamp and hospital tag and anything significant.

Oh an my mum never did any of this and it doesn't bother me in the least, but she is alive and well, if circumstances were different it could have been important.

My two have got a box each in the loft with all the first year stuff, including a Mothercare catalogue from the years when they were. Also a box each in their bedrooms where they keep tickets, leaflets from days out, postcards, pics of them in the newspaper, odd random things. I make them a book up at the end of each school year with all their certificates, photos, best bits of art etc. I also have photo albums but am not very good at keeping them up to date. I keep all the medical letters, notes etc separately but this is because DS has ASD and his paper trail is important.

After i watched the mummy diaries i made sure i did boxes for my kids. I wanted to make sure that should anything happen to me they knew how I was always treasuring things etc.(i dont think your bad for not doing it OP, this is my own paranoia).

I wanted to ensure they had a record of me in their life so they each have a baby book filled in religiously with birth announcements, order of service from christenings, photos of their first birthday and christmas presents, hospital tags etc.

They also have their first dresses, a tiffany necklace each that we gave them for their christenings, a photo book of my growing bump pictures called "in mummys tummy" and i did it like a story of how i met my mummy and daddy. I also make photo books of their artwork rather than keeping numerous scribbly paper. Then they have a "dear mum" memory book each which is where you convey all your memories and advice to your kids. I can die happy now knowing that i did all i could to leave my "voice" in their lives behind.

I bet they chuck the lot in the bin as tat

you keep bits of decaying body tissue?????

I do family history research and found myself reading my own birth announcement. It's actually quite weird!

keep vaccination records and photos. All else is clutter.

I need an entire room for the shit I've kept (and DH has).

Birth announcements, national newspapers of the day, local newspapers of the day, hospital wristbands and yes, his umbilical cord. If he is as weird as me, he will love inspecting it in years to come. If not, ah well.

I let my mum fill in his bbook of firsts etc, I can't remember what I had for breakfast. Do you have an interfering MIL who could do the book of firsts?

my children have got one each.baby cards/first birthday cards/first pair of those little squishy baby shoes. and 6 inches of dust on top.

I have memory boxes for DS1&2 which has things from big events in their lives which have meant something to them at the time. DS2's has tickets from the first football match he went to, and the Olympics tickets and table tennis ones and... General sports things. DS1's has a programme from his first exhibition, the paper he presented to the local uni through a science competition at school, a rock from the cave he went potholing in in his first trip away from home alone. Both have photos from Italy on their first trip abroad with the Scouts, photos of every house we have lived in with a map on the back detailing the neighbours they knew, commendation letters from their schools and a copy of our family tree.

DP is in charge of DS3's memory box as he is a cord stump saving grimmer and I refuse to have anything to do with that sort of behaviour. The thing is shrivelled and rank! I'm not putting anything into a box that has a piece of desiccated human flesh in it, so I pass things to DP for him to put in the box. I don't even know where the box is, as it would slightly freak me out every time I went into whichever cupboard it was in if I knew it was there.

I too must confess to keeping my son's cord stump - at the time it was so odd that this was 'his' when everything else was stuff that would be his as it were, but the stump was all him. I realised even at the time that it was a bit gross, but can't bring myself to throw it away now. However, I have a memory box which is more for me, to remember his first year etc and then another which is more for his benefit so that he can look back at things that will actually mean something to him. (And will hopefully contain much less gross stuff!)

Ummmmmmmm................I too have cord stump from both my dc's.

I love the memory boxes I have collected over the years, for dd it has all her hospital tags and mine, birthday cards, school work, a few photos, leaflets from days out we've had, her first shoes, a special outfit from when she was a baby.

DS is only 6 months but his has all his hospital stuff from birth, every single appointment letter I have been sent as he was born was an abnormality, he had a operation at 3 months so I have stuff from that too.

I can't wait to show them when they are older, in fact dd is 7 and loves to go through it from time to time now!

I kept 1st haircut, babygrow, shoes, teeth, school scribblings and pictures.
I didn't tell Ds 1, just handed him a shoebox when he left home. He absolutely loved it.
It's not too late. Start now and enjoy.

Our Mum kept all mine and my sisters milk teeth in a jar and I have kept both my kids placenta stumps. A bit weird, maybe?

I was given little books when my DDs were born, and there's a hospital tag in there, a curl from their first haircut, and I jotted down first words, when they walked, etc but I don't actually have any idea where they are and there are no teeth/cord stumps in there

We have a sort of memory wall, one of the dining room walls is covered with photos of days out, holidays, 1st day at school, etc, etc. We started it 11 years ago when we moved here and added to it over the years. I love standing looking at it, brings back lots of happy memories

That's pretty grim akiss, was she disappointed or did she know this was what she was getting? DS's box doesn't have any body parts, no teeth, hair, chord stump or placenta, just pictures, drawings and report cards!

I don't think they are necessary.

A friend of mine got all excited about her 18th birthday present, thought it was going to be something amazing. Her mum gave her a pot with all her baby teeth in it. Why would anyone want that?

I love doing stuff like this. Mainly because I have my own or three memory boxes that I have kept stuff in and I like to look back. I have done a box for each of my DC and I kept their baby record books up to date although I always regretted not getting DD a better record book. DS's was so much better. I also kept those frames where you put a photo in of each month until they are 1.

I don't think any of my friends have done it though. I enjoy doing it and even if the kids don't want to keep the boxes then I will, but I hope they will enjoy looking back at them. DS is 5 and can spend ages looking through photo albums, DD is 2 and she seems to like photos too so hopefully they will appreciate it.

I wouldn't think it was shoddy parenting for not doing it though. I read on here before how someone kept a special folder of their DCs artwork as they come home with so much, that is my next project and something you can start anytime. I still like the fact that my nan has my clay animals (yes they are a cat, dog and a dragon no matter what people say about them, I was 7 ok! ).

Haha, ok, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the cord stump!! I had a little sterile air tight pot to hand and chucked it in there and in the box. It just fascinates me I suppose, that's what connected me to my little girl and was her lifeline for 9mths. Maybe not to everyone's taste. But to me it's not much different that collecting your kids' teeth as they fall out :/

Sorry for grossing people out!!

I've literally just put DS's together today, he's 6 but I managed to find some things lying around the house from when he was younger. I'm going to put some of his school work and drawings and stuff in it too.

How old are your dc? It might not be too late to start saving some things.

Cord stump? Just ewww!

cord stump?? no no no...