Do you have a baby book for your child or children? I do! How many of those baby books are filled in? Mine actually is for her first year…but here’s the problem: it asks questions that lead to a book filled with “perfect moments.” A major flaw is that I filled almost the entire thing one night over a bottle of wine. If I’m being honest, it ended up with a ton of fluff. The book paints a picture of an absolutely picture perfect first year, with little to no mention of the complete lack of sleep or her first falls that left two lumps on her head that looked like devil horns. Instead, it highlighted our “perfect” little life. It felt incomplete. But my imperfect moments didn’t fit with any of the book’s questions.
A little over a year ago I discovered text service that I’m obsessed with. Qeepsake is text messaging service that acts as a baby journal. It texts you questions about your child and you text back a response…that’s it! I set mine up to send me questions around 7pm because that’s quiet time when we are watching Minions for the 1,000th time. I love recounting her day or getting to write a short text about something funny she said. The program automatically logs each entry into a journal that you can eventually order a book from.
Qeepsake was featured on Shark Tank, and according to my friend, it “caused a feeding frenzy for the investors.” If you can believe it, even Mr. Wonderful expressed interest! (This would be much more impressive to me if I knew what that meant.) The investors were out of luck that night but the good news for all of us is that exposure has fueled the company and they are expanding services. This small Massachusetts based company is flourishing.
If you have multiple children, Qeepsake will space out questions about each kid depending on how often you sign up for texts, and as long as the child’s name is in the response, it will be logged to that child’s journal. If multiple kids are included in an entry, it logs to both kids. You’ve got to love technology.
The best part of Qeepsake is because they ask all sorts of questions (I have one of the paid versions $36/year, so I get two questions a day) I end up with all sorts of fun stories logged into it. I get to include the “perfect moments” like when she had earned a trip to pick out a toy and she picked out a stuffed animal to bring to my sick aunt to help her “feel better”…and the not so perfect moments when I can write about her struggles with listening to teachers.
I wish I had this text messaging service when she was little and had recorded milestones met or missed. I find myself now trying to recall some of the cute and/or funny moments and working them into entries when I don’t have things to write on a given day. It’s almost become therapeutic for me to pour my anxiety, fear, hopes, dreams, and memories into this little journal. When I do decide to print a book I might need to be selective on my entries to include (I’d hate to expose exactly how crazy her mother is. I’m sure she’ll figure that out on her own during her teen years!)
I’ll be adding this to my idea pool of things to buy expecting moms because let’s face it, no matter if you have one or a ton of kids, those first couple years can be a blur.
