The years fly by. Especially with a child in your life. People tell you to enjoy every minute. It’s advice not to be ignored.

Take a moment, stop and watch your child. Just a moment seared in your mind will become a time you will never forget because it will never be again.

As these moments pile up and life speeds by, how can you best capture this time of their life, of your life together?

Put it down in writing, once a year.

I have discovered that if I carve out time after the holidays, sit down and write all I remember from the year past, I create a letter to my daughter. One letter per year. Each a treasure to save for her to unfold in time when she is ready to read them.

This yearly tradition also becomes a way for me to spend time alone and ponder all that has happened during the year. A time to capture every funny quip she spoke. An opportunity to record all the ways she grew and what she learned during 365 short days.

A letter to my child every year is a way for me to record history and relive precious moments I will now only file away in my heart. She needs to know what I have been pleased to have witnessed and to have heard her speak.

So, when the hub-bub of the holidays settles down, try taking time out and excuse yourself from your momma-duties; find a comfy spot and jot down, no pressure, all you remember from the year.

Smile, laugh, cry. It’s okay because it’s your history.

Then, tuck the letter into an envelope, address it to your child but don’t send it. Keep it for future delivery at a time you feel is right. Be it a graduation, wedding or a year from now. All that matters is that you recall and record here and now.

Memories are the best gift you can give to yourself and your child. Priceless.

Here’s to a Happy New Year, Mile High Mamas!

Guest blogger Trish Grodzicki is a proud mom to a two-year-old named Keira and two rambunctious dachshunds. She likes to say she is the mom of three little girls—-some furrier than others. Photo