Mark Zuckerberg tells his new baby daughter to play outside in open letter

New recruit: Mark Zuckerberg with his wife, Priscilla Chan, and their new baby daughter August, left, and her sister Maxima
AP
Harriet Pavey29 August 2017

Mark Zuckerberg has taken to Facebook to write his newborn daughter an open letter about the joys of playing outside.

The letter was published on the social media site on Monday, announcing the birth of the 33-year-old Facebook co-founder’s second child with wife Priscilla Chan.

The emotional post, which appears alongside a family photo on Mr Zuckerberg’s Facebook page, focused on the wonders of childhood, expressing hopes that baby August “doesn’t grow up too fast.”

“The world can be a serious place. That's why it's important to make time to go outside and play," it reads.

“You will be busy when you're older, so I hope you take time to smell all the flowers and put all the leaves you want in your bucket now."

The public letter goes on to say: “Childhood is magical. You only get to be a child once, so don't spend it worrying too much about the future. You've got us for that, and we'll do everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation.”

Signed “Mom and Dad”, the letter takes a lighter tone to the one they wrote to welcome elder daughter Max when she was born in 2015.

Not everyone was impressed by the announcement. One person pointed out on Twitter that Mark Zuckerberg’s family now has more women in it than Facebook’s board of directors.

There are just two women on Facebook’s board of eight directors currently, Sheryl Sandberg and Susan Desmond-Hellman.

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