Don’t tell me, SHOW me!

Hey, I’m Chris — husband to Katie, a pediatric nurse, father of two boys, a stay-at-home-dadpreneur, and Qeepsake Superuser (a term I just made up).

Let’s work backwards for a minute… instead of me giving you the general intro on Qeepsake, let me show you how this “text message journal” has meaningfully enriched the lives of my family and friends all over the country:

These are real texts I pulled from my phone, and this is just a select few — we’ve got grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even old friends receiving Qeepsake Recaps.

Okay, now zoom out — what is Qeepsake?

If you’re new here, let me give you a quick overview and explain Qeepsake like I explain it to my mom.

*clears throat*

Qeepsake is an app that sends you text messages every night asking thoughtful questions about your kids. It automatically saves the answers in the Qeepsake App, aka your digital family journal.

For example:

“What’s your son’s strongest trait right now?”

“What do you hope for your son when he grows up?”

“What’s something fun you did with your son this week?”

Here – let me show you! *flips phone around*

…and here’s the best part – after you’ve made a bunch of entries, you can order a book (hardcover or softcover) that Qeepsake sends to you so you have something physical to hold in your hands.

At this point, mom’s (grandma’s) eyes light up, she immediately looks over at the bookshelf, and then I whip out these two bad boys like pocket aces:

Game over. Grandma’s flipping through all the pages, looking like the heart-eye-emoji saying, “Wow, what a clever idea! Look at my boys!” Grandpa says something about college basketball, and then I get them both immediately signed up on the recap emails.

(just kidding, Grandpa loves it too!)

 

Easy for busy parents – how it works

For the article skimmers who don’t like my flowery prose, here’s the tactical list:

• Qeepsake sends you a text every day or night at a time you choose (I like 8pm)
• The text has a really interesting question about your child (or pregnancy)
• You can reply with a picture (or add a collage in the app) to accompany the answer to your question (a “journal entry”)
• Everything is saved online in the Qeepsake App (so you can edit and reminisce anytime)
• You can sign friends & family up for recap emails (one of the best parts)
• You can order a physical Qeepsake Book that has all of your journal entries

Qeepsake Cost: Only $4 to $8 per month

Unlike that $50 you just threw on a 14-game parlay, Qeepsake is something that is actually worth spending your money on (and it’s much cheaper).

As of this writing, there are three plans: Lite, Plus, and Premium

• Lite: Free
• Plus: $3.99 / month
• Premium: $7.99 / month

Click here to see a side-by-side comparison of the different plans.

I’m sorry, but this is an absolute no-brainer — less than $8 per MONTH to create an extremely comprehensive book of your most cherished memories with your children?

Sounds a lot better than the $12 I spent on that third beer the other night or the $15 per month I spend on some subscription I forgot about four years ago.

In fact, I remember signing up for Qeepsake the very first night I learned about it because I saw how valuable it was. And I’ve never looked back.

Qeepsake is fun, not a chore!

One of my biggest worries when signing up for a service like this is that it’s fun at first but quickly falls into the chore bin after like two weeks.

I can promise you that using Qeepsake is definitely NOT a chore and is something I look forward to every night.

How did Qeepsake manage to break the mold here?

First, it sends you question prompts in the form of TEXT MESSAGE.  Brilliant. It comes to ME — I don’t have to remember to go looking for it.

And second, you can specify WHAT TIME you want to receive the messages. So it works around your schedule. Ask me to do something like this during the workday, and I just won’t have the time.

For me, I’ve found that 8pm after the kids are in bed is perfect. The day is winding down but not over, and it’s a great time for reflection and some gratitude.

The kids can have “one of those days,” but Qeepsake really does a nice job of redirecting your attention to the things you are grateful for, and I genuinely love that.

Mom actually shows up in pictures.

Ever heard of the “missing mom” problem?

It’s this phenomenon where moms are so busy and often taking PHOTOS of the kids that they themselves never actually show up in any pictures.

Daddy gets all kinds of air time playing and wrestling with the kids while mom is often behind the scenes and behind the camera.

And therein lies one of the things I love most about being a Qeepsake Dad — during the day, I am actively thinking about getting pictures of the kids and, more importantly, pictures of MOM WITH THE KIDS.

What a concept.

Now, I’m still not a pro. Mommy is the GOAT when it comes to pictures — but hey, at least I’m trying.  I’m thinking about it.  And I’ve got some meaningful pictures of my wife with our boys to prove it.

Qeepsake recap emails are the BEST.

Like I mentioned at the start of this post, the “recap email” is one of my favorite features because this is how friends and family all over the country get to know my kids.

We’re lucky enough to have SOME local family, but by and large, everyone lives elsewhere (sound familiar?).

The recap email goes to anyone you add from the app and shows all your questions and answers from the previous day or week.

All those texts you saw before? People LOVE the recap emails.  Heck, I’m the one answering all the Qeepsake questions, and I still read and love the emails when they arrive.

During COVID quarantine time, this was one of the most amazing things we had going because nobody could see each other, but it was a way we could all still feel connected.

Qeepsake Books are AWESOME.

Let me ask you something… how many photos are sitting in your iCloud graveyard?

Well, for my family, it was over 25,000, and I’m willing to bet we’re on the LOW end.

SOMEDAY, you’ll go through all those photos and put together that really creative scrapbook, right?  Probably not this month, but like, someday…

Okay, let me just settle this real quick — not gonna happen. Let’s just make our peace with that and move on. YOU WON’T. It’s not because you’re a bad parent. It’s because you’re a busy parent with a life.

Feel cleansed? Good. Now let’s talk about something you CAN do.

Qeepsake lets you order physical books right from the app just by pressing a few buttons.

If you’ve been Qeepsaking every night, that means all your best work is already saved and ready to go. Your best pictures. Your hilarious captions. It’s all there.

JUST. HIT. PRINT.

If I can order an amazing scrapbook of my children by pressing fewer buttons than it takes to cook a lean cuisine, I’m sold.

You can do a hardcover or softcover Qeepsake Book, and then you’ve got an incredible keepsake (~get it? ~) of all your most amazing memories with your children.

You know it as much as I do. There’s just something unique about holding something physical in your hands, even for us millennials.

What do the Qeepsake books cost?  Here’s a link put together by the company that walks you through everything you could ever need to know about the books.

Last thing (and most importantly) — they make AMAZING GIFTS.  Skip the scarf this year and give Grandma something valuable she’ll display on her coffee table like it’s the Heart of the Ocean from Titanic.

It memorializes your time.

Let me close with something you don’t think about much, but you know.  Your time is finite.  It will end someday.

Guess what?  Your kids are gonna get older too.  FAST.

How many times have you walked past someone, and they’ve said, “they’ll be 18 before you know it!” Happens to you too, huh?

Well — it’s both annoying AND true. Your kids will grow up. And yeah, you’ll probably remember the big stuff — family vacations, school graduations, sports victories.

BUT what about the little stuff? Who were they as a child? When’s the first time they hugged you back?  Held your entire hand instead of just one finger? Said “I love you” for the first time? How they said pocksickle in their tiny little voice when they meant popsicle.

Have you already forgotten? I hope not. But it happens to all of us. Life moves fast.

So please, I implore you — if there’s one thing you can take away from this entire post, it’s that Qeepsake helps you memorialize your time with your children. The precious little things that only happen once that you will never get back.

We are privileged to be parents. There is no greater joy or purpose in the world. Let’s make the most of it and make sure one day when we need it most, we can look back and live it all over again.

Click here to sign up, and you can start filling out questions based on your child tonight — don’t waste another minute!

Yours in Fatherhood,

–Chris

 

About Chris: I spent over a decade working in finance before becoming a (nearly) full-time dad during COVID. I was one of the lucky ones… spending more time with my children turned into one of the greatest joys of my life and clarified the silver lining for me is time with my family.

Be sure to check out This Guy Dads for no BS parenting advice and reviews.