Since I started this business in 2023 with a friend I've never stopped adding idea after idea for new scratch off posters to a Google Sheet. But the idea I've had there the longest but could never finish (until now) was the New Parent Milestones.
The first two posters we launched in year one were New Homeowner Milestones and Marriage Milestones. Those were super fun to create and did well enough to spawn this business leading me on the journey to where I am today. But since day one I thought it would be great to also offer a scratch off poster full of all the notable but relatable moments parents experience while raising young children.
I worked on this a few times over the years but was never able to really finish it. It seemed simple at first but the more I worked on it, the more I found it challenging. Part of that stemmed from lessons I learned selling the other two milestone scratch off posters. I really wanted this one to be even better than those.
It took a few months of work on nights and weekends to finally get this one where I wanted it. Much of that time went into filling out and organizing the main spreadsheet full of milestone ideas. I literally had up to hundreds of ideas for milestones and dozens of potential categories. I agonized over which categories would be most "fun" and which specific milestones struck that perfect balance of being common but also not guaranteed but also noteworthy (and hopefully a tad entertaining).
Lots of people contributed milestone ideas. Some made straightforward suggestions and some were really off the wall. It raised a lot of questions for me about what sentiment I wanted to prevail. Was this poster supposed to be sweet and celebrate the warm and fuzzies? Or lean into the trials and less glamorous moments of the parental journey? It became more of a point of consideration than I had anticipated.
My emphasis ended up probably heavy on the humor with a lot of milestones for those moments where, as parents, you sigh or groan and rub your temples because this 💩 is hard. My thought process is largely: Those moments aren't easy to appreciate when you're in them, but it is comforting to be reminded that most other parents go through it too (and survive). Plus it is at least a little fun to get to scratch off one more thing on the poster. These are really rites of passage for those rearing children.
I worked up several versions of the design with a few different aesthetic styles. I showed it to dozens of people to get critiques before sending it to print. At this point, I love having my most critical friends and family nitpick my designs. It's what makes them better.
In the end, I feel really good about this poster. I'm super excited to see what customers think and read the reviews as they come in.
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