Make Your Child The Main Character of Their Favorite Movie |NotForgotten Time Capsules

It’s no wonder time capsules for kids are experiencing a huge surge in 2020. Here’s how to make yours.

It’s officially that time of year. Baby season! After all the weddings and holidays between the months of January and February, couples become inspired to bring new life into this world and create their own families. It feels especially prevalent this year — or perhaps this year people have just found other ways to entertain themselves during quarantine, and my generation are going to be the new boomers.

Either way I don’t mind, because babies just make everything better. Any family event we have I am drawn towards the kids table where there is no drama and a bunch of cute faces. When we think of babies, we think of beings that have not been exposed to the troubles that usually are attached in life. The first years of a child’s life are so special but too often many of these precious moments are missed by the new parents. No one can blame them, its exhausting. In fact in general when one becomes a parent, life gets set in fast forward, preventing us from pausing and truly savoring the memorable moments.

Most parents in the digital world we live in do their best – snapping thousands of smart phone videos and photos of their off spring at every opportunity …but in the end for the majority of parents— in the chaos of lunch boxes and sporting goods - the catalog of memories turns to disarray and the favorite films can no longer be located. Given time, eventually these thousands of photos and smartphone videos will turn to data rot.

Lauren Southworth, mother of two teenage boys, explains why parents should hold on to their child’s youth for as long as they can. Being that she has already made a time capsule for her children, I found it inspiring how happy she was that she had actually done it.

You can tell a lot about how a person is going to turn out based off their mannerisms as a baby. We are all born with our nature but of course it’s time and experiences — the ones that make our stories — that then shape us after we are born. In Lauren’s experience, she can only see the shadow of who her kids used to be in their older age, and that thought makes me sad.

My mother, with three fully grown girls, has the perfect testament to that theory. My oldest sister, Shayna, was always curious. Her eyes were constantly wide and her mouth was always in a state of aw. Every time she saw something she thought interesting, she would shout “OOOOO” with her lips in a perfect circle. Then there was Rachel. Rachel seemed to have a tantrum at every inconvenience that approached her. Finally, I arrived…pretty silent. Over 20 years later and each of our personalities reflect the way we behaved as children. Shayna remains curious, always wanting to learn about what the world has to offer. Rachel is headstrong and confident, and then there is me. Not to brag, but from what I hear quiet babies are usually the most wise

There is a very different bond between a new born child and their parents vs. a fully grown one. When you have a baby, you are their world, but as adults, you must let them go to find their own independence. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to capture each phase of this journey? To record the way your child was able to develop their independence and let them watch it back when they were parents, or grandparents themselves?

I am lucky to have had parents that were able to document my childhood, giving me the opportunity to look back on my journey and reflect on what parts of me are simply my nature and relive some of the stories I was too young to remember. I want to keep this documentary for the rest of my life and to be able to show it to my own kids one day, so they can meet their grandma when she was a young woman.

What if I told you there was a way to preserve your child’s journey through all their most important moments of time? A way that you could keep the untarnished, most innocent version of themselves alive forever?

Time capsules for your child capture the art you have curated when it comes to the values you have implanted in their lives. A life series of time capsules starting with a baby time capsule allows your child to inspect the way you raised them.

Living in the midst of a pandemic feels for all of us like we are actors in a dystopian movie. But parents in 2020 are in completely uncharted territory. Suddenly parents are replacing the role of friends, being the playdate, the teacher, all whilst trying to create the safest, most entertaining environment for their children as possible (and not to mention fitting in the jelly in the peanut butter — their day job).

It’s no wonder time capsules are experiencing a huge surge in 2020

There are plenty of ways to be creative when it comes to making time capsules with your kid. What 2020 offers us that the past did not is virtual time capsules. Ned Glasier and his crew at Company Three in the UK have had over 1700 video submissions from kids to their Coronvirus Capsule. Its fun, its creative, its safe, and it captures the essence of them at this crazy moment in time. Its history too.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with virtual time capsules, you can refer back to my previous blog explaining the pros and cons between virtual and physical ones. With virtual capsules, the opportunities are endless, not to mention timeless. Anything virtual is considered relevant in our day and age. Susan Carraretto, a mother making time capsules for her children, explains that,

“As we grow and learn from parenting, our own memories, thoughts and perspectives change. So capture what you’re thinking right now and save it in a Digital Time Capsule that will be automatically delivered when the time is right.”

Babies born in 2020 are destined to be tech savvy. They are born during a time where their boredom is placated with screens and education is online. You ever see a baby screaming hysterically and silenced immediately by a Youtube video streaming on an iPhone? Well I have, way too many times. I swear half these toddlers can work a computer better than I can. Knowing this…what makes you think your child will prefer a physical time capsule when they are older when everything they know is online?

Now with digital time capsules you can create a whole series of capsules linked to each other as your child grows up — see their growth, record achievements, and so much more. Imagine gifting an annual message from your child, made when he was a child, to his own children. I think of making a life series of time capsules a lot like a reality TV series — one where you get to make your child the main character of their favorite movie

When it comes to what goes into time capsules, the answer is pretty much anything. Personally, I recommend checking out the different ways companies like NotForgotten allow you to customize them. Set opening dates, get it mapped, put it on ceramics, complement it with footprints, get a your own library card, save it for 50 years all the way through one million. From there you can choose how you want to organize your child’s capsule and see an overall version of what you want it to looks like. Here are your best options:

• Video Memory Keepsake Time Capsules: Most time capsules for kids occupy this space with a message for themselves in the future, home videos of baby or kids goofing around, scenes from memorable events (birthdays, talent and sporting included), or most interesting, used as an annual message from the child. And bonus — with this style you can fill your capsule with film and have it protected from data rot.
• Memory Scrapbook: This option gives more of a sentimental approach, and generally has a longer (think many generations) life span (so make sure you choose one that gets mapped). More like making a scrapbook from the past — a carefully curated collection of photos, videos and documents (birth certificates, sporting awards and graduation certificates all accompanying birth videos, sporting triumphs and videos of prom). Its a representation of your childs life, it gives generations beyond you and your child the chance to understand one another.
• YOU, Filmed by Professional Videographer: Get professional!…make sure your capsule is exceptional high quality, and your child is captured exactly as they are — have them interviewed and talk about all their favorite things and who they think they will be one day. Having your own personal videographer gives you the power to customize your capsule in the best way possible. I talk a lot about the perks of having a videographer in my last blog.
• Mega treasure boxes: Last but not least…a time capsule containing all the thousands of photos and videos you never have time to sort and organize but you want to make sure they stay safe and available throughout your child’s life

Digital time capsules do not have to be just for your child. They make the most meaningful gifts when it comes to the people you care about. I cannot tell you the amount of baby showers I have shown up to empty handed. Now before you judge me, in my defense all the ones I had attended up until now I was below the age of 15. Well now, I am 21 and can no longer get away with showing up without a gift. I have 3 showers in my future (like I said baby season) and as per usual, I have no idea what to get them. Being a junior in college, babies are the last thing on my mind, making me the least qualified person to buy them gifts. I’m loathe to buy the obligatory silver toothbox, another soft toy, and I refuse point blank to go near a breast pump. Well after writing this blog, I found that I am no longer in the question.

Buying them a time capsule is the ultimate gift being both, timeless and genderless. No more guessing baby smock colors based on mystery-genders or paying for over priced strollers they will outgrow in their first year.

A gift like a time capsule lasts longer than a life time. One of those showers coming up is for my cousin who is expecting to have her second baby. Being that Covid has had such an impact on who we get to see, I want to gift this baby with something it will remember especially since I cannot be as close to it as I want to… but maybe I just want to be its favorite. So, if you are like me and never know what to get people, time capsules are now going to be the gift I default to. They fit all categories and never disappoint.

I guess what I am really trying to get across here is that life goes by too fast. If we are being honest, the idea of dealing with dirty diapers, a moody teenager or sending your child off to college does not sound appealing, but those are just the phases of life. It’s important to be able to reminisce back on simpler times when life seems to be racing past you. My mother constantly reminds me how much she wishes she could have those precious moments with us as babies back. When life gets too loud she grows nostalgic for times when she cradled us in silence, all worries out of sight. The goal of having a time capsule for your child is to bring you as close to those types of memories as possible.