Scribbles and Sandwiches: The Start of Something Special

Scribbles and Sandwiches: Why We Started Our Father's Day Tradition When the Kids Were Still Little

Right now, Father's Day in our house looks like scribbly hearts, wonky stick figures, and glitter stuck to the cats. The kids are 2 and 5 and they can't quite write a full sentence yet, but they've got plenty to say.

The little one yells "DADDY!" like it's a full story. The big one draws elaborate pictures of their dad rescuing them from lava or flying a spaceship to the supermarket.

It's chaotic, messy, and exactly the kind of thing I don't want to forget.

Why I Started a Keepsake Tradition (Even Though They're Too Young to Write)

A few years from now, I probably won't remember that this year's drawing showed Dad with six arms and hair made of triangles. Or that our two-year-old contributed a single sticker and a wild scribble before wandering off to find the dog.

But if I write it down, if I keep it, we'll remember.

That's why I started using our Letters to Dad Keepsake Book.

Not because the kids are old enough to craft the perfect letter. But because these early years, the ones filled with scribbles and half-sentences and declarations that make no sense but mean everything, are part of the story too.

The Letters to Dad book gives us a place to put it all. One page a year, building into something that will one day tell the whole story of how our kids grew up loving their dad.

One Page a Year, Until They're Grown

The idea is simple. Each Father's Day, we add one page. Just a little note, a drawing, a photo. Sometimes I write down what the kids say word for word, even the weird stuff, especially the weird stuff.

Like:

• "You're the best at cutting my toast into squares."
• "You smell like car."
• "I love you bigger than a tractor."

Twenty years from now, those pages will be priceless.

Not because they're perfect. Because they're theirs.

The Gift That Keeps Growing

I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make every holiday magical. The perfect present, the perfect card, the perfect moment.

But this tradition is quiet. It doesn't need planning or Pinterest. Just ten minutes, once a year, to sit down and mark the moment.

Because it's not about the perfect photo or card. It's about giving our kids, and their dad, a way to look back one day and see how much they've grown, year by year, side by side.

The scribbles from when they were two. The wobbly handwriting from when they were six. The actual sentences from when they were ten. All of it, in one place, telling the story of a dad who was loved from the very beginning.

If Your Kids Are Little Too

Start now. Start with the scribbles and stickers and one-sentence declarations of love.

It doesn't need to be fancy. It just needs to be real.

And when you look back in twenty years, I promise, these are the pages you'll treasure the most.

Shop the Letters to Dad Keepsake Book here and start your tradition this Father's Day.