I know I promised I’d be pausing these daily rambles until the New Year… but consider this one of those “sprinkled throughout” holiday pop-ins I warned you about. (You didn’t think I’d stay quiet all month, did you?)

Every family has one person who is the Keeper of Traditions, the Protector of Memories, the Archivist of All Things Sentimental.

In ours? That’s Steve.
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By a landslide.

This man saves almost everything .. the kids’ memorabilia, their school projects, their ticket stubs from middle-school band concerts, and every “best thing ever” toy phase they ever went through.

He’s also the wittiest member of the household, but that’s a separate newsletter.

Meanwhile, I’m the minimalist.

If it were up to me, each child would get maybe one school keepsake… total.

Not one per year, one lifetime souvenir, if we’re being really honest.

And maybe one beloved toy. Maybe.

And this is truly my philosophy:
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You don’t need physical things to remind you of precious moments, they’re already tucked into your heart and living rent-free in your memories.

(I know, I know. Try telling that to the man who saved 100+ tiny cars.)

But Steve?

On each child’s birthday, from birth to age 25, he buys a physical copy of the New York Times for them.

A printed copy.

In the year 2025.

I don’t get it. You can literally generate a digital copy in 4 seconds flat, but no, this man is preserving the entire news cycle for posterity.

And the toys he saved?

Oh, he saved all their favorite toys.

  • Stephen’s entire Thomas the Tank Engine collection – every train, every track, basically the whole Sodor Railway Authority.
  • William’s hundreds of tiny Hot Wheels cars (which I swear multiplied in the night).
  • And Kathryn… well, she was a sampler. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, though makeup and pretty dresses were absolutely her personality. (Yes, my kids skewed hilariously stereotypical without any encouragement on our part. Genetics? The Target toy aisle? Who knows.)

And don’t even get me started on traditions.
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He’s the reason we take a family holiday card photo every single year.

I’d happily send out the non-photo cards, you know, the “We tried our best, here’s a nice embossed snowflake, please don’t ask for visual proof we exist” ones.

But no.
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Each year needs a theme.
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One year we all wore Brooklyn Nets jerseys (yes, we are a family of Nets and Giants fans, except my son Stephen who roots for the Patriots … blame Tom Brady).

Another year sunglasses.

Aren’t they clever?

All this to say, I really do hope you have someone in your family who brings the laughter, the silliness, the heart, and the chaos, in the very best way, into your home.

And if you’re that person?
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Bless you. Your family has no idea how lucky they are.

Wishing you the warmest holiday season and the promise of a bright, joy-filled, beautifully messy New Year ahead. (Reply if you know what this year’s theme was.)