There are so many little things about childhood we think we’ll remember.

The funny answer to a question. The picture that made you laugh. The afternoon they finally learned to ride a bike. The completely serious explanation of why they needed to wear rain boots on a sunny day.

And then life keeps moving.

Starting an email memory collection is one simple way to save some of those moments for a child to have later.

The idea isn’t to write a beautiful letter every week for the next 18 years. In fact, one email a week for 18 years would leave them with more than 900 emails to read someday.

That’s not the goal.

Instead, try a simple monthly rhythm. Notice the little things as they happen, jot down the ones you don’t want to forget, and once a month turn a few of them into an email.

Some months you’ll have plenty to say. Some months you’ll have one little story.

And some months life will happen and you won’t send anything at all.

That’s okay.

Start With a Separate Email Account

There are plenty of tutorials for creating an additional email account, so I’m going to keep this part simple.

One option is to create a separate email account for yourself and dedicate it to collecting memories for one child.

A parent can do this. So can a grandparent, aunt, uncle, godparent or another important person in the child’s life.

Think of it as your collection of memories for them, rather than an email account belonging to the child.

This also means you don’t need to create an account in a young child’s name. Email providers may have specific requirements for accounts created for children, so creating and managing your own separate memory account keeps the setup simple.

Use accurate information when creating the account, choose a strong password, keep your recovery information current and remember to sign in regularly. Always check the current account requirements for whichever email provider you choose.

Then you’re ready for the part that really matters.

What Do You Send?

Start with what’s already happening.

You don’t need to create special memories just so you’ll have something to write about.

Maybe they said something hilarious.

Maybe they finally learned to tie their shoes.

Maybe someone sent you a picture of them that you love.

Maybe you’re the one who took the picture.

Maybe they called you just to tell you about their day.

Maybe they drew you a picture.

Maybe they did something that reminded you exactly of their mom or dad at that age.

Save it.

You don’t need a beautifully written letter. Sometimes a few sentences are enough.

Today I asked what animal you’d like to be. You picked a giraffe because you said they get to see everything before everybody else.

That’s the kind of little thing that’s so easy to forget.

Ask a Question

Every once in a while, ask them something and save the answer.

What animal would you like to be today?

What’s your favorite food right now?

What made you laugh today?

What’s your favorite thing to do outside?

If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you think I was like when I was your age?

Don’t worry about conducting an official interview. One question during an ordinary conversation is enough.

And make sure you save the why when there is one.

Sometimes the explanation is much better than the answer.

Let Them Get to Know You, Too

Not every email has to be about the child.

Tell them about yourself.

What did you do after school when you were their age?

What was your first job?

What did your bedroom look like?

What did you get in trouble for?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

What were your grandparents like?

What family tradition did you love?

You don’t have to sit down and write your entire life story or fill out a 200-page memory journal.

Tell them one story at a time.

Tell Them About Their Family

These may eventually become some of the most interesting emails in the collection.

Tell them what their mom or dad was like at their age.

Tell them about the Christmas everybody still talks about.

Tell them where a family saying came from.

Tell them about someone in the family they never had the chance to know.

Tell them about the old house everyone gathered at or the vacation that went completely wrong.

Family stories have a way of disappearing because everyone assumes someone else will remember them.

Sometimes it’s worth writing them down.

Save the Ordinary Days

Birthdays, graduations and first days of school tend to get photographed.

Ordinary days are easier to lose.

The pancakes you made together.

The game they finally beat you at.

The afternoon they called just to talk.

The phase when they insisted on wearing the same shoes everywhere.

The song they wanted played over and over and over again.

Those details may not seem particularly important while they’re happening.

Years later, they may be exactly what brings a piece of childhood back.

Try a Monthly Rhythm

Once a month is a nice place to start.

You could set a reminder on your phone and use it as a little nudge:

Is there anything from this month I’d like them to have someday?

During the month, keep a simple note of funny things they say, questions you ask, stories you remember or photos you might want to include.

Gigi’s Little Lists: Little Things to Remember makes it easy to keep those little notes together until you’re ready to write your email.

Get the Free Printable Little Things to Remember List + Fillable Little Things to Remember List

When your reminder comes up, look through your notes and choose what you want to send.

Maybe you have three little stories.

Maybe you have one.

Maybe nothing happened that you particularly want to preserve.

Skip the month.

The reminder is there to help you remember—not to give you another deadline.

Don’t Try to Save Every Photo

A few photos can make these emails even better.

But think memory collection, not another camera roll.

Even three photos a week would be about 156 photos in a year. Four a week would be more than 200. Keep that going for 18 years and you’re talking about thousands of pictures.

You don’t need them all here.

Choose the photo that helps tell the story, then use the email to preserve the part the picture can’t show.

What was happening?

Why did it make you laugh?

What did they say?

Who was there?

The photograph preserves what it looked like.

Your words preserve what it meant.

Be Especially Selective With Video

If you’re using Gmail, a standard Google Account currently includes up to 15 GB of free storage shared among Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.

Ordinary text emails take relatively little room. Photos take more, and their sizes can vary considerably.

Videos can use much more storage, much faster.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t save a special video. Just be selective.

The short clip that captures something you never want to forget? Absolutely.

Three recordings of the entire school concert from slightly different angles?

Probably not.

Save Each Month as a PDF

Here’s the little step that can make this collection much easier to preserve later.

After you’ve sent the month’s email, save a copy as a PDF.

Give it a simple filename that will still make sense years from now, such as:

2026-08 • August Memories

Then save it in a folder for that child and year.

Over time, you might have:

Emma
Email Memories
2026
January Memories
February Memories
March Memories
August Memories
December Memories

There don’t need to be 12.

There only need to be the ones you actually sent.

Saving the email as a PDF when you send it also means you don’t have to sit down at the end of the year and open a year’s worth of emails one at a time.

One email. One PDF. Done.

Give the Collection a Home Outside of Email

An email account is a wonderfully easy place to collect these memories.

It shouldn’t be the only place they exist.

Once a year, copy that year’s Email Memories folder to an external hard drive.

Their birthday could be an easy date to remember, or choose another time of year that works for you.

Check that the PDFs and any photos you’ve saved open properly before considering the backup finished.

And anything truly irreplaceable should have more than one copy. External hard drives can fail too.

Technology will change considerably over 18 years.

The memories are the part we’re trying to keep.

What Happens When You Miss a Month?

Nothing.

Don’t write two emails next month.

Don’t sit down in December and try to remember what happened in March.

Don’t feel like you’re behind.

Just start again with what’s happening now.

This isn’t going to be meaningful someday because you successfully completed 12 emails every year for 18 years.

It’s going to be meaningful because you created it at all.

Gigi Says

Aim for monthly, but remember that life happens.

Some months you’ll have plenty to say. Some months you’ll have one little story. And some months may slip right by.

Don’t catch up.

Don’t count missed months.

And don’t worry about how many emails you’ve sent.

Someday, they aren’t going to care whether you sent 216 emails or 86.

What they’ll have is something that wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t started:

A collection all about them, just for them.

Keep Smiling,
Gigi