Ditch Mother's/Father's Day Cards…and create the sentiment that will last forever.

When my oldest was 1 1/2 and I was pregnant with my second, I read about the most fabulous family tradition surrounding Mother's and Father's Day cards. Instead of buying a Hallmark card each year for the holidays that gets lost or thrown out, why not start a personalized Mother's / Father's Day book that the kids could add entries to each year? They can draw a picture, you can include photos, ask them the same questions year to year and see how the answers evolve. Then it's all in one place, the parents can look back at years past and reminisce about their kids at those ages, and read the Mother's Day wishes from that time. It's a fantastic keepsake (and you know we love a good keepsake)!

For my youngest's first year, we did pages with hand and footprints (actually before that we did an ultrasound photo). As my older daughter began to read and write, she wanted to write special messages. My kids started bringing home poems they wrote for their dad at school, and we just clip those in. The pages for my husband (that I orchestrate) are always neat with professionally printed photos. The pages for Mother's Day are typically more organic, messy, and kid led.

It's always a silly dance at our house when it's a week or two before Mother's or Father's Day and the other parent is trying to secure the book in secret and find alone time with the kiddos to add a book entry for the year. I keep my Mother's Day book on my dresser and, without fail, it always disappears a few days before Mother's Day. (This year it was like the night before, ha!). My oldest is now old enough to basically orchestrate the whole exercise herself. At some point soon, we won’t even be involved with the books! The evolution of the project is amazing to see.

Do you have any fun Mother's / Father's Day traditions? Would your kids be excited to fill in a book for their parents? What do you think they'd want to say or decorate?

At the Ultimate Baby Book, we love this idea because we definitely believe in less clutter, more memories!