Something special six times a year. One moment every eight weeks. That’s enough.
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Somewhere along the way, having children became a project. Early learning, weekend plans, craft ideas, outings, a good idea every day. Alongside it runs a thought nobody says out loud: Am I doing enough? Am I doing it right? What if I get something wrong?
That question uses up more energy than anything else. And it doesn’t make things better.
Ask someone about their childhood. A handful of pictures comes back. A night in a tent. The summer with the broken bike. The day they did something on their own for the first time. Rarely a perfectly planned year.
That’s why we suggest six. One every eight weeks. In between, life can be ordinary. And boring. And tiring.
We believe a familiar moment together can be small. What matters to us is that it comes around again and fits your family.
It doesn’t have to be a theme park. It can be the woods behind the supermarket.
Give them a real responsibility, with support suited to their age and abilities.
In Japanese elementary schools, children help clean part of their school for a few minutes each day. Looking after a space themselves gives them a different relationship with it.
Doing something for themselves gives children a chance to grow in a way we can’t do for them.
There’s a seventh card. An evening for the two of you. Or just for you. No program and no guilt.
It doesn’t have to go in the family album. It still counts.
Your children’s year on the left. Your own on the right. Choose what fits or write in your own ideas. None of it is a commitment.
This column isn’t a bonus. It’s half the board.
Your personal entries stay in this browser on this device. The link shares only the ideas selected from our templates. To keep the complete board, use the print option. “Start again” deletes the plan saved here.
Memories lose something when we turn them into homework. So here’s a limit rather than a to-do list:
One photo per moment. Just one. Six in a year. One sentence your child said, written down exactly, even if it’s nonsense. The nonsense may be the most precious part later. One thing: a stone, a ticket, a piece of bark. Put it in a box.
A shoebox is enough. At the end of the year, tip it out together. That’s the whole ritual.
You’re doing well. Even on the days when you did nothing.
This is the yearly plan. There’s something for everyday evenings too. Dido is a little dragon who joins children in the bathroom. And the child gets to help him. Meet Dido