Help Creative Moms!

I know how you feel. I too have a 2nd princess who we must constantly "duplicate" what was done. I agree with those who say ask family/friends to do the same. We had a virtual portrait done at birth where people sent in wishes via a website and the result is a photo called "baby's first website" and it has all of the inscriptions captured all around her picture. We forgot we did one for the 2nd at the last second for fear that "one day" it would haunt us if we did not.

Well now they are 4 and 5. We recently moved into a new home and was just putting up my 5 year old's photo over her bed.

I said wistfully to my munchkin, "I wish I had one of these photos for you too!" My 4 year old said "I do have one mommy!" I asked her "Why do you say that?". Well, low and behold, she reached up and opened up the back of the picture frame and THERE was HER matching photo behind her sister's photo! How in the WORLD did she remember that she had one and EXACTLY where it was being kept...but glad we had it!

J.
Mom to Tomeara and Toleah
www.HBCUfamily.com

I feel the same as you do about making sure baby #2 feels as important as baby #1! I really went crazy with our first, as did my family, and don't want #2 to feel...I don't know...slighted in any way.

So reading your post, my automatic response was that you should ask again for baby #2. The previous poster is right, the people you will ask probably don't get that request alot and will also be happy to do it. I'm sure they won't say "Oh Lord...how many times am I going to have to do this"!! If you think they will, don't include them!

How about a quilt? You could have each family/friend design a quilt square for you daughter. This would take a little more work on your part, you would need to cut the squares (or you could purchases pre-cut squares)make sure everyone understands to use fabric makers, pens, paint, or iron ons. Then comes the hard part...sewing. I am sure you could find someone to help you piece the quilt together if you do not sew already. It really is not too difficlut. The biggest challange is the time it takes. Hope this helps..

Oh I have a great idea!!!! I'm doing it for my newest addition. We're taking photos (or having family far off email/ mail photos of themselves) and then writing a little thing about them when they were growing up- perhaps a story where they learned something new, perhaps a memorable experience in their life, etc. Don't worry that there may be some in the capsule in #1 that won't in #2. By the time they open it they will realize "oh Gramma so and so couldn't have written anything because they had already passed away" You could write something about Gramma so and so for baby #2. That's what we're doing- I'd like my children to know my dear grandparents, but my grandfather died far before any of them were born; and my grandmother died when I was pregnant with baby #2. Hope that helps!

Linds

Mommy of Bridgette (4 yrs old in Jun); Anya (2.5 yrs) and Leilani (5 months)

I think you should do the same thing again for baby #2 - make the same request of the same people. To make it a little different, maybe try to make an additional theme around it - the hopes/dreams/etc, but also their projections of what will the world be like in the year 2026. Maybe make up a couple of stock fill-in-the-blank/open-ended questions to include in your request and ask people to choose one or do them all, whatever your or their pleasure. Things like: a gallon of milk will cost $___, or the main source of transportation will be:______, the first thing everyone does in the morning will be:_____, her favorite class/subject in school will be:_____, most recent scientific breakthrough, etc. You can get ideas from some of those books/web sites that are out right now (What the year was like the year you were born, etc.) Have some fun with it! Tie it in to the hopes/dreams/family tree stuff to make it similar but different from your first child's time capsule.
(Neat idea, by the way!)

We did something like this for our wedding, wrapped up a box in pretty paper with a slit on top so that people could put their page with their answers in, then taped over it to seal it afterwards. We're going to open in on our 10th anniversary - coming up in 2009! = )

Have fun and good luck!

I personally think that it wouldn't hurt to at least ask family and friends to do this for your second. I think it's a really neat idea, and I kind of doubt that they get tons of requests for things like this from a lot of other people, so asking a second time shouldn't be that big of a deal. I suppose though that maybe you could make the request for things like letters and momentos, etc., and maybe get duplicates of some of the photos and the family tree, since it would be the same for both girls. Just an idea.

But really, I think it's a great idea! Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.
A.

T.,
Can I just say... being a mom of 3 (we share) and 2 (of his from previous marriage).... I think what you are doing is awesome.
I believe when you accomplish your goal that both your Princess' will feel special. I am not sure I would worry too much about making one feel the same as the other. The fact that you are the Oldest Child or first born is a special thing and should definitely be taught, looked up to and respected. Birth order is a pretty awesome thing. But in the same respect the same is true for the middle child and for the baby of the family. Each has their rightful place in any family.
I think that if you look at a different way to teach your daughters, then both will feel your love and have no confusion of importance. Both will fell that Mama did something really cool for them. Kids don’t remember days, they remember moments. Each has different factors of life. The simple fact that you have dedicated time to them to do something like this is what makes them feel important.
I remember worrying about making each of the kids feel special. But time just did not allow for me to do the same things for them. My first son has a ton of things from grandparents and people that are sadly no longer in our lives. My middle child was the baby for the longest time; he was a hard baby and required a lot of attention, so I could not give his book the same attention. I do have boxes full of stuff I have saved for him. My princess, well she is 2 so I have folders full of stuff to do for her when I find some free time (HA).
So, I think if you look at a different way of presenting what you have done for them as special and unique to whom they are in your family, each other and society, then there is no need to worry about one feeling less important. Because they are both special and unique gifts just the same.
Hope that helps give a different perspective on things. Again, I think what you are doing is awesome!
My goal in the future is to grow and expand with what I have left to organize for them, because for me, with each child I continue to learn, grow, become better and well... let’s face it... for a while I did expand. (lol)
But for now, I seem to find little spare downtime and so, in the future I believe it will be fun.
Hope I have helped ~
Jenn
Mama to Bryce~9 Austin~7 Taylor~2
If you ever wanna chat more.. just email me.. we can bounce ideas back and forth...