I am all about tradition during the holidays. Our annual trip for Thanksgiving, Christmas advent calendars, gingerbread houses… but then I realized my family has zero traditions for New Years’ Eve. Our idea of an NYE party? Flipping channels and drinking some sparkling grape juice at midnight… IF we make it to midnight. But that has to change– I can’t have a holiday without a tradition! So we’ve decided to build a family time capsule that we can open together. When I sat down to think about what would go in this family time capsule, I had a few ideas…

A letter to your future self OR a copy of your handwriting now. Imagine how a preschooler writing his name will feel when he sees the huge improvement between this year and his future skills. Or how a toddler’s scribble will be fun to look back on in a few years when he’s writing full sentences. And a teen who can write a letter to himself in the future may be surprised to see the advice he gave himself, or look back on memories of friendships or stories of life now in the future. I can even imagine the mom I am in the future reading a letter from the mom I am now and seeing what’s changed (and what hasn’t!). Don’t have kids? Write a letter to your future self about your life where it is now. Newlyweds? Write a letter to your spouse, and have them write one to you, to be opened in the future.

A voice recording. I know this seems silly, but I have a real-life reason why it isn’t. If you dial my brother’s number, you’ll be met with one of two things: A husky man-voice that’s fully developed OR a child-like squeak from before his voice changed, which is still his voicemail message. Even a years’ time can change an adolescent’s or child’s voice dramatically, so a voice recording (or a video!) is a fun way to look back and see the change.

Pictures of your family. Go out and snap some photos and print them for your time capsule right away, make a collage from your Instagram account, or just find a way to share your photos, and see what life was like– real, every day life– when you open the time capsule.

A flash drive with favorite music from this year. Let each family member pick a song or two for the flash drive and see how your music taste has changed (or hasn’t). My 3 year old will probably choose Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising and All About That Bass from Meghan Trainor (don’t even ask me, I don’t know…). 16 year old me would have chosen Green Day, 19 year old me would have chosen Sigur Ros, and 26 year old me who prefers Frank Turner and Paul Freeman would have laughed at both 16 year old me and 19 year old me, so this is a fun one for sure. (Depending on how long you’re storing this, you may want to make a track listing in case technology changes or in case of corrupted files).

A sample of news stories and clippings from this year. What was going on in the world? Every year I sit down and watch a British Quiz Show called Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which they put on at Christmas, looking back at the year. It’s amazing how much I’ve forgotten from January or March when December rolls around… imagine what some of these stories will look like a year or 5 from now! Talk about flashback.

A list of important things that happened to the family over the year. Maybe your child tried a new sport (mine was in soccer camp and basketball camp), or you got a new job. These are great things to add to a time capsule.

A little questionnaire of your favorites (and least favorites!) There are tons of great examples of this on Pinterest and around the web, but things like a favorite food, least favorite food, favorite song, favorite movie, favorite TV channel, favorite app, favorite activity, favorite toy, favorite book, and more are fun to look back on. Everyday details, like what grade, what job, what your room looks like are great years down the road, too.

Objects or items that are important to you (or pictures of them). This is a great way to look back on things and see what mattered most in 2014, and how things have changed. Does your child have a favorite stuffed animal or lovey? They may not feel comfortable putting the item in the box, but they may feel comfortable putting a picture of it in! (Bonus points if you can use this as an opportunity to break your child of a habit you’ve been wanting them to quit– sticking the last binkie in, anyone?). Other ideas could be a ticket stub from a movie you visited or a sporting event you attended, or a piece of memorabilia from a big event (we did World Cup sticker books this year, and that’s a fun one to add in!)

Cost list. Remember when gas was under $2? Notice how it is again? But what about New Years’ last year, or the year before, when it was well over that? A price list of every day items– like your groceries that you buy frequently, gas, clothing, or a movie– cost.

Mostly, though, just try to capture a glimpse of your family’s life right now. We’re locking our time capsule away for 5 years. Yes, that means that we’re going to have a few years where we’re making time capsules but can’t open one, but 5 years from now, we’ll get to lock one away and look over the one we put away now… and that will be fun for sure. By then, my 3 year old will be 8, and I know he will have changed a lot. I know I will have, also. That’s the wonderful thing that time does– it changes people (and in many ways, they stay the same).

Do you have any New Years’ Traditions that you celebrate with your family? Let me know about them in the comments below!