Almost ten years ago I was lucky enough to have my sister ask me to be my nephew's Godmother. We went to the meeting at the church together and I tried to stifle my laughter as some massive amounts of Catholicism were discussed. Let's just say I am not the most devout Catholic you'll ever meet.
But at one point during the meeting they shared an idea that I took to heart...baptism (or church) birthdays. Celebrating the day of my nephew's baptism every year. And my niece's since Sean is her Godfather. For years I've bought little stickers or books to give them, but I had an idea now that they are nine, eight and seven (I added my other niece too, even though technically we aren't her Godparents).
Instead of a little gift, I would put aside money for them to decide where to donate it to each year on their baptism birthday. Ultimately, I think community support is one of the very best aspects of every religion and hope this will be a great opportunity for them to think about what might be needed.
Of course a little craftiness had to sneak in too. I made cards to mail to them that they could fill out and send back to me to keep, so one day they could look back through this tiny bit of their childhood.
I bought three sizes of envelopes...one color for each of them. I made the cards for them to fill out and little note cards for me to write to them every year. Then there are address labels to send everything to them and for them to mail their filled out card back to me.
I opened a savings account to put aside money each month and have stationery for the next ten years all set...amazing to think it will probably fly by.
