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未来的自己
现在的自己，在做月子，天天待在家里，身体也恢复不少了，但是也是害怕以后会有月子病，所以还是天天待在家里，不敢玩手机。俩年后，不知道宝宝怎样，心脏缺口好了吗，是自己长好的，还是要做手术。自己还是在农商行?还是考上了公务员?或者不会做家庭主妇呢？自己现在的生活又是怎样?有了宝宝一直都害怕改变。
mjj
Aug 11, 2019 · Traveled 2 years
Photo letter
给大黑黑
还记得三年前的今天吗？现在的生活我在做月子，你还在农商行上班，马上你就要去体检了，我们的宝宝现在健康的长大着，不知道三年后的我们生活咋样？宝宝还像现在这么乖吗？你进入财政所了吗？工作咋样？我还在农商行上班吗？可考上公务员了呢？可辞职了呢?
mjj
Aug 11, 2019 · Traveled 3 years
2020.10.29带小小出去玩
2019年10月29日小小答应我明年今日（2020.10.29）一起出去玩电话：
online774
Oct 29, 2019 · Traveled 1 year
Photo letter
写给未来的…
致代雨铮： 今年因为疫情你们没有能正常的开学，老师只能通过网络直播给你们上课，虽然你很辛苦，爸爸妈妈看在眼力疼到心里，可是为了你的将来，即使再辛苦再累也是值得的，愿你在以后的学业里，更加的努力加油，拼尽全力，相信在若干年后你会感谢现在努力的自己，加油宝贝。 爸爸：代怀雷
kuaileyiyi
Feb 16, 2020 · Traveled 1 day
写给你，我的女孩
按照正常的时间点，你已经中考完了，我的女孩。真的和爸爸说的一样吗？你觉的自己考得怎么样？还满意吗？对我，你不用掩盖，可以好好的哭一场，不管是好是坏，终于第一次熬出了头。以后还有很多这样子的感受，祝你好运。你喜欢自己吗？或者说，你喜欢现在这个世界吗？暑假，是否真的会缩短，虽然对于你来说，一切似乎已经无
n4784
Feb 27, 2020 · Traveled 3 months 28 days
写给李恺君
恺恺小朋友： 儿童节快乐！ 一岁半的你在天堂还好吗？你那么可爱，一定有很多人喜欢你！ 还记得你在妈妈肚子里那会，三个月的时候呕吐得很厉害，六七个月的时候喜欢在妈妈肚子里动来动去，八个多月妈妈躺坐在沙发上，你就像波浪一样，在肚子里翻跟头哈哈。很多叔叔阿姨都猜测你是个男孩或者双胞胎，果然。 临近预产期了
lovely石榴儿
Mar 17, 2020 · Traveled 1 year 2 months
轩轩
作业写完了吗？准备开始锻炼了吗？今天背英语单词了吗？背课文了吗？认真学习了吗？
n4981
May 26, 2020 · Traveled 1 day
写给未来的…
亲爱的乐多麻麻，转眼拥有这个身份已经二十天了，此时的乐多还是会偶尔的小磨人，但是可爱的时候也让人融化，我的小盔甲，一天天在长大着，希望我的乐多，以后能找到一个自己很爱很爱的人共度余生，绝不将就。现在是凌晨两点半，刚喂完奶的我已经醒透彻了，心情依旧还是很……不是很好形容，反正就是很压抑，很不开心吧，难
N
Jun 22, 2020 · Traveled 2 years
崽种收信
崽种，又一年过去了，你长进了吗。刚刚在整理ipad的时候发现去年三月写的关于未来薛总的幻想，笑死我了。就突发奇想想给你也写封信。我现在思维有点混乱，没有以前那sharp劲儿，就按照典型分类来写吧。学业：学业方面你可不要掉队啊，老母亲倍感心酸。想想这也是你唯一的出路和选择了吧。好好学英语，你到此为止有
mogeko
Jul 20, 2020 · Traveled 5 months 11 days
Photo letter
致小b崽子
hello,是我，你爹，现在是2020年11月29日的，0:15分，刚吃过夜宵，吃的饺子，然后刷抖音，看到了这个东西，觉得挺奇妙，所以，拿你试试手，如果不出意外，网站还在，那么你就会在今天收到这封，算是信的东西也不知道要说点什么，希望你，此时此刻有对象，学习顺利，生活开心，爱自己，总之，特别好，哈哈
Gao_Xinke
Nov 29, 2020 · Traveled 1 year
写给未来的你。
宝贝。哎，不知道他能不能寄给你。算了算了。我也不会写。记住爸爸爱你。就OK。咱们就写个两年吧。唉，爱死你了。小傻瓜
n6030
Nov 29, 2020 · Traveled 2 years
一定要看完呀！
你刚刚把我微信拉黑的时候我忽然之间就哭了，我没有放弃的啊，是你又要把我丢掉。我不知道你有没有收到我发的短信，所以只能在这里给你发一封邮件。我想告诉你，我没有放弃。我会一直等，直到我进了棺材。你如果有什么事情，随时打给我。我的电话一直会等你。一定不要把我忘了啊！我就先去东莞了。我努力一点。等你回来的时
n6143
Dec 1, 2020 · Traveled 1 day
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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