Christmas letter to your children.
The words they'll find under the tree.
Among the presents there's room for an envelope. Inside, a few lines from you: a memory from this year, what you admire in them, a wish. It's the smallest gift under the tree, and the one they'll reread all their lives.
A Christmas letter to your children recalls a moment from the year, what you admire in them and a wish for the future. A few lines are enough, handwritten or recorded in your own voice. You can leave it under the tree on Christmas morning, or have it arrive on a future Christmas, when they're grown up.
The little letter under the plate, the other way round
Every year children write to Father Christmas. In Italy, for generations, there was another custom too: at Christmas, children wrote a little letter to their parents. Not to ask for presents, but to say thank you and make a few promises. They hid it under their father's plate and waited for him to find it during Christmas lunch.
Christmas letters written by Italian children between the mid-1800s and the 1950s, gathered by a collector and shown in 2018 at the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna.
This year you can swap roles. You write the letter, for your children. And you hide it where they'll find it: under the tree, in their stocking, or under their plate, the way it used to be done.
It means more than you think
In four experiments, researchers Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley asked participants to write a letter of gratitude to someone important to them. The writers underestimated how surprised and happy the recipients would be, and overestimated how awkward they would feel.
One detail stands out: the writers worried about finding the right words, while the readers mostly noticed the warmth of the gesture. The same is true of a letter to your children.
You don't need to write well. You need to write to them.
What to write in a Christmas letter to your children
Five steps to fill a page without effort.
- Start with a moment from this year. The first bike ride without stabilisers, a school play, an evening you laughed a lot. One precise scene is worth more than ten adjectives.
- Say what you admire. Not marks or results: the way they treat their brother, their patience with the dog, a question that surprised you.
- Share something about yourself. A Christmas from your own childhood, a family tradition, a present you still remember.
- Add one wish, not a list. A single thing you hope for in the year ahead.
- End with a simple promise. “I'll be there”, “I'll listen”, “I'll take you to see the snow”. Small, true, one you can keep.
Where to begin: 6 opening lines
A different letter for every age
Little ones
They can't read yet, so write it for the future. Describe their Christmas at two or three and have it arrive when they're grown up.
Ages 6 to 12
A few lines, simple words, maybe a drawing. Read it together on Christmas morning: it will become a tradition.
Teenagers
No lectures. A memory, a quality you admire, an “I'm proud of you”. Leave it where they'll find it on their own.
Grown-up children
A thank you, a childhood memory they may have forgotten, a wish for their family. It works from a distance too.
A Christmas letter to a son
Dear Sam,
this year you learned to ride your bike on your own. I remember the moment I let go of the saddle and you didn't notice: you pedalled all the way to the gate and turned round to look for me.
That's what I wish you for the year ahead: to keep going on your own, and to turn round now and then. I'll be there.
When I was your age, on Christmas morning I crept down the stairs on tiptoe to see the presents. You run instead, and wake everyone up. That's just fine.
Happy Christmas, my love.
Dad
Under the tree, even years from now
The paper letter goes under the tree this year. With Erabox you can write one that arrives on a Christmas far away, when your children are grown up.
Write or record
Text, voice, video, photos: everything you want to tell your children.
Choose who will receive it
They don't need to sign up or download anything: they'll receive a personal, secure link.
Choose the day
The Christmas of their 18th birthday, or another Christmas when they're grown up.
Erabox keeps your words on servers in Switzerland and delivers them on the day you chose, even many years from now.
Christmas letter to your children: common questions
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Guides to go further
The smallest gift under the tree.
The one they'll reread forever.
Write your Christmas letter. It will arrive on the morning you choose.