A Letter to Your Child, Delivered the Day They're Grown
Children grow faster than anyone can keep up with. Today they're asleep in your arms; blink, and they're walking through the school gate without looking back. Every parent has had the thought: I wish I could keep this exact moment — who they are right now, who I am right now — and hand it to them when they're grown. Photos and videos capture how things looked, but not what's in your heart: the beautiful chaos of the day they were born, the tears when they first said "mama," everything you hope for them and everything you can't bear to let go. Here, you can put all of it in a letter and have it delivered on their eighteenth birthday, their graduation day, or any day you choose. When it arrives, they'll be holding a letter from many years ago, signed by a younger you. Below are letters some parents have chosen to share. What it feels like to love a child — written down, it becomes the longest-lasting gift you can give.
Ideas to get you started
- Describe them exactly as they are today: how tall, the phrase they repeat all day, how they sleep. The details you're sure you'll never forget are the first to go.
- Tell a story only you know: what happened the day they were born, how you chose their name. Stories land better in a letter than in a retelling years later.
- Write your hopes — but as hopes, not demands. Tell them that whoever they become, the love in this letter doesn't change.
- Write about yourself, too: your age, your work, what's worrying you these days. The grown-up version of them will be dying to meet the you of today.
Real letters from the vault
42 public letters写给未来的自己
可爱的儿子在自己的怀抱中安静的睡觉了，自己心中充满了感动和温馨。 儿子半梦半醒的状态中，轻轻呓语着“爸爸”，稚嫩的小手轻轻抚摸着自己略带胡须的脸颊。这一刻，自己很幸福。儿子语气中那种对自己依恋、满足，填充了我的全部世界。 儿子的翻了个身，打了个哈欠，又翻过身来，看了我一眼，又叫了一声爸爸。我满足的答
tdzpf
Jan 5, 2016 · Traveled 1 year
光哥你好
光哥： 不知道你现在成功没有，现在还在第一份工作这里上班。孩子未出生6个月，再有三个月就要当爸爸了。还是一事无成，现在的我信用卡都还不清，生活特别艰苦现在孩子应该是快5岁了，如果你还一事无成，请努力，请努力！
n1567
Jul 7, 2016 · Traveled 5 years
我是2016年的你
不知道你现在过得怎么样了？时间和孩子 家庭和生活有没有给你击垮？有几个宝宝？住在哪？婆媳和睦？和盆儿幸福不？还在地铁？爸妈身体好不好？32啦！？这么老啦，哈哈不记得这封信的内容，打开的时候又吓了一跳吧！哈哈我现在正怀着勺勺呢~他（她）现在怎么样了？是不是很漂亮~哈哈哈~健康不？爱生病吗？快5岁啦！提
MM咪雅
Dec 19, 2016 · Traveled 5 years
给你的一封信
给你的一封信 今天是2017年1月23号。 人与人之间需要沟通，我和你之间也需要沟通一下。 不知道你能否懂得，人类做出选择时候的自私。 我愿意承认自己的自私和愚蠢，只希望求得一个解脱。最终还是为了自己，在这个世界上，人不为己天诛地灭，我没有办法承受，没有办法面的，脆弱的那个自己，还带着曾经的倔强。
n1882
Jan 23, 2017 · Traveled 3 years
三年后的宝宝，你在干嘛呢？
三年后的宝宝，这个时候你应该高考完了吧!考上了曾经的梦想大学了吗？所有的努力都是有回报的，不要给自己施加太大的压力，放松一点。给你写这封信的时候，是2017年的2月15号哦！凌晨两点，因为还有几天就要开学了，三年了还是舍不得妈妈，不想自己一个人呆在学校里，（妈妈刚才问我怎么还没睡呢
顾北墨陌
Feb 15, 2017 · Traveled 3 years
亲爱的jessica
hi，gilr…我决定挑战为期100天的英语阅读，我不知道我能不能成功，我是一个典型三分钟热度的人。但从现在开始我想改变了，因为现在我是一个妈妈的角色，我希望我能成为孩子的榜样，我希望我能带着孩子学会坚持… 只要下定目标就要坚持完成。亲爱的的Jessica 你要加油！如果成功了，我一定请自己大吃一顿
n3182
Apr 26, 2018 · Traveled 3 months
写给我亲爱的儿子
亲爱的，儿子，您好，我是你爸爸。给你写这封信没有什么特别的事，就是想看看这个网站能不能用，为啥，我以前给你发的邮件你都没收到呢
小野罗卜
May 8, 2018 · Traveled 1 day
写给未来的有有妈
有宝周岁，有有妈回归职场150天，开始阅读120天…坚持阅读，与娃分享学习的乐趣
n3519
Oct 20, 2018 · Traveled 4 months 7 days
希望可以出行自由交流
希望通过坚持和自律能够收获一个全新的自己。可以在旅行中无障碍交流，也可以和女儿共同探索、进步，成为她的导师！
冰咖啡
Oct 21, 2018 · Traveled 1 day
未来的你
孩子出了吗?是男孩还是女孩呢？现在过得怎么样的?会不会面对孩子手足无措呢？现在就已经很无奈了呢。
mjj
Dec 17, 2018 · Traveled 8 months 15 days
写给100天后的雪儿画
希望每天多能坚持，然后可以获得些许的进步，为了孩子奋斗吧，目前还是出来x会读，会看，然后不会说的阶段，希望我每天读完故事可以利用里面的单词去跟孩子复述故事内容，这样能够带动孩子的兴趣，也有助于提高我的英语，100天结束的时候你会成功，还是放弃？
n3880
Dec 21, 2018 · Traveled 3 months 15 days
Photo letter
第二个宝贝
亲爱的第二个宝贝，今天妈妈看为什么好几天大姨妈还没来，想着可能是这几天减肥减的大姨妈不来。友辰躺在床上睡着了妈妈忽然想起会不会是怀孕了，想起厕所柜子里还有一个验孕棒，就拿起测了下，结果两条线一深一浅，你懂妈妈么，心里有多难受。因为妈妈不想要这个孩子，因为你的爸爸是个没有担当的天天哭穷，你哥哥就是妈妈
友辰肉松饼
Jun 25, 2019 · Traveled 1 year
Frequently Asked Questions
My child doesn't have an email or phone yet. How does this work?
Send it to your own inbox and hand it over in person on delivery day — or keep the letter's 6-digit claim code and give it to them when they're older; the code alone unlocks the letter.
Will it really still arrive, a decade or more from now?
Yes. On delivery day the system sends an email and a text automatically, with the claim code as a final backstop. Delivery within a year is free; each completed year then costs ¥1.99, capped at ¥19.90 from year 10 onward.
What age should I send it to?
The eighteenth birthday is the classic — the day they come of age. Some parents write one every birthday and build a whole shelf of growing-up letters.
Can anyone else read what I write?
No. Letters are private by default — only the recipient can open one, via the link or the claim code. Every letter you see on this page was made public by its writer on purpose.
A Letter to Your Child, Delivered the Day They're Grown
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