My son turns 8 today. But I’m not just buying him a cake and Legos. I wrote him an email he won’t open for another 17 years.
It’s a simple tradition I started—every year on their birthday, I send my kids a time capsule message. He’ll read it when he’s 25, and it might just be the most important email he ever receives.
Here’s how it works.
Table of Contents
Digital Time Capsules
Each birthday email captures three essential elements that represent who my child is at this exact moment in time.
The little joys of this age: what he played with, what made him laugh, the show he watched on repeat.
The milestones: swimming on his own, memorizing 20 capital cities, scoring his first goal. (He’s particularly proud of that last one.)
A few photos and clips from the year: nothing curated. Just us, being us. Raw, authentic moments that social media will never see but that tell the real story of our family.
The Wisdom
I also include two pieces of fatherly wisdom.
This year’s gems:
- “You don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to.”
- “Try to be consistently not stupid, rather than trying to be very intelligent.” (Thank you, Charlie Munger.)
These aren’t just clever sayings—they’re life lessons wrapped in memorable phrases that will hit differently as he grows.
Why do I do this? Because I want my kids to know that while the world pulls their attention in a thousand directions—they were always the center of mine.
And maybe someday, when they need it most, that email shows up in their inbox like a message from the past, reminding them of who they were and how much they were loved.
Conclusion
Every parent wishes they could freeze time, capture the magic of childhood, and somehow tell their future adult children just how precious these years really are.
You don’t need fancy tools or perfect words. Just open your email, start typing, and schedule it for 17 years from now. Your future child—and your future self—will thank you for it.