You know it's a slow news day when a featured story is about a family finding a 50-year-old time capsule buried in their back yard while gardening, but the more I started thinking about this, the better the idea became. When I was little, I was always fascinated by the idea of time capsules. Old stuff from 100 years ago? Bring it! How did people live back then? What did they eat, what did they read, what did they think about?
Even more fascinating was the idea of living on into the future by leaving a piece of myself and my life for someone else to find. Ego! Hubris! Maybe, but also quite fun, like a Way Back Machine of your own: what things can you put in a box that will define you for future generations?
Kids will totally get into this idea, and will probably take it to levels far beyond anything you can imagine, but here are a few different ways to approach the concept:
1. The standard bury-for-fifty-years-for-some-unknown-person-to-open version. A few things are good to know about this. I never would have thought to seal the container with caulking, for instance, to keep out the critters. You can buy a kit or make your own; more ideas can be found here.
2. A family-only time capsule, set to be opened in five or ten years. It's fun to see how much everyone has changed in that time. Be sure you put in kids' art and writing as well as photos and things they say (maybe on a cheap digital recorder?); they'll love remembering what they used to be like.
3. An annual time capsule. Kids can change a lot in just a year, and it could be part of a family ritual, like for New Year's.
4. Letters to your child's future self. What bershon teenager wouldn't love to read all about your hopes and dreams for him from when he was an infant? This is the kind of thing you can keep adding to as time goes by.
What about you? Have you done this? What things from your present would you include to leave as evidence that you were once here, as an individual and as a family? What message would you include?
