Stories of Birth, Pregnancy, and Newborns

Sentimental Baby Gift to Give Your Grown-up Child

By Michael Sults

This gift was not planned to have even materialized.  However, every parent should consider this idea at the time they have their first child.  With a little short-term planning, every parent can provide their child with a very significant sentimental gift down the road 20 to 30 years later in their child’s life. 

Most parents have many, many pictures and portraits pictures taken of their children in special outfits as they are growing up.  This is especially true during the first 5 or 6 years of their child’s life.  As a father, I am possibly a bit more sentimental than usual. 

Early on, during my firstborn’s life, I found that Dad could just not part with some of the dresses and other cute outfits.  Therefore, I found a cardboard box and labeled it with a black magic marker, “Clothes Dad could not possibly part with.”  Sounds ridiculous, but to this box I continued to add cute clothing items that each child had worn. 

This treasured box has sat all these years in the attic, baking in the summer heat, and freezing in the winter cold.  Occasionally I would come across the box while straightening up the many Christmas decorations and other stuff that one accumulates in an attic.  During the 30-plus years of the box’s existence, I even opened the box and looked through its contents of clothing from all three children, but mostly the box was ignored and just moved around in the attic. 

During the late fall of 2006, I was contemplating what to get each of my children as a special Christmas present that year.  As with my elaborate outdoor Christmas decorating ideas, I have to be inspired.  I usually do not act on ideas until that inspiration strikes.  2006 must have been an inspirational year…at least when it came to the near-perfect Christmas gift for each of my three children. 

One morning while taking a shower, an idea came to mind.  I remembered the long forgotten box of “can’t part with” clothing collecting dust in the attic.  The beginning of an inspiration was conceived.  From that moment on, I considered all possibilities of what to do with the clothing.  Then it came to me.  Why not have a special outfit mounted and professionally framed for each child.  Then the idea of having a small brass plaque with the child’s name and birth date attached to the mounting board occurred to me.  

Then I sought out the advice of my professional framer who had framed pictures and objects for me for over 20 years.   She explained to me that what I had conceived could in fact be done.  The item of clothing, of course, needed to be dry cleaned and sized first.  The mounting on the matting would have to be done by hand stitching the clothing article so that it would be permanently attached to the matting board and would hang properly and not droop while hanging on the wall. 

With this positive assurance in hand, the next level was conceived.  Could I possibly find a picture of each child wearing the selected clothing item?  After much searching, I was able to find a good portrait of only my older daughter wearing a purple and white gingham checked dress.  I reprinted that portrait to a 3 x 4 inch size, and had it also mounted to the matt board in the lower left corner. 

Now, with the prepared clothing items and the information for the brass plaques and the one picture in hand, I turned it all over to the professional framer for her to create these individual keepsakes.  And a marvelous job she did!

When the pictures were finally completed I brought them home.  I then got the idea to have a picture of the proud papa sitting on a couch next to each keepsake.  After printing each picture, I put the picture in a plastic insert cut to size, and then taped it to the back of each child’s keepsake picture.  

Next we needed to wrap each picture.  Each was wrapped in bubble wrap and then Christmas paper.  Next step was to take two of the pictures to the local UPS store.  One had to be sent halfway around the world to my older daughter living overseas, one sent to my son in another state, and the third hidden until Christmas for my younger daughter. 

Unfortunately I could not be present when any one of the three children opened their gift.  However, by email and pictures from the first, a phone call while opening the gift for a second, and a phone call and pictures of the opening for the third, I was able to piece together that all three children were touched by the personal aspect and sentimental value of this near-perfect Christmas present. 

With a little forethought for the future, this idea could prove itself out down the road 20 or 30 years to be a near-perfect sentimental gift from a parent or parents to their child or children.  Save those special, early childhood items of clothing, and especially pictures or portraits of the child wearing those special clothing items.  The savings of sentimental items can not be done at a later date.  It needs to be done at the time your child is growing up. 

This is just an idea for parents.  I am thrilled that I was able to pull this whole thing together.  It was never planned while my children were growing up.  The seeds of this idea were unknowingly happening totally through sentimentality, and a thought of being a pack rat.  I know I surely wish my parents had saved at least one item of clothing from when I was young.  Alas, times were different sixty years ago. 

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