Memories: Keepsakes, Journals and Memoirs
While you may be stuck at home and scrambling to get it all done in a day – parenting, working from home, schoolwork, take a moment and remember that you can use these time to make priceless memories with your family. Memories are often one of the strongest elements of your life as a parent. Consider the many ways in which you remember your child’s first years. Perhaps you remember the smell of their bath soap as you remember giving them their first bath. Perhaps you remember the way it felt to touch your child for the first time. You may even remember the unique smile that came across your lips the first time your child smiled themselves. These are all fabulous ways to remember your child. However, how can you preserve them?
A Variety Of Ways
There are many ways to keep your memories alive and beautiful. In many ways, it is easier today to remember yesterday than ever before. As you consider your options, contemplate using several ways to remember your child and your family. Putting together a collection of different methods to remembering can help you to really form a strong bond over time. Most people lose memories within a few years, unless they are particularly strong. Still, by the time your child is in college, chances are many smells, touches and unique looks will have faded. Here are some ways to preserve them.
Journals: One of the best ways to remember your child’s first years and every year after is to use a journal. If your child is a newborn or just starting life, then now is the perfect time to start a collection of your thoughts. What is unique about a journal is that they are very easy to use and they allow you to collect thoughts not just pictures. Journals make a great tool to use along with other formats, too. You can add photos to your journal as well as small trinkets if you would like to.
Keepsake Boxes: As your child grows, there is no doubt you will have small items that mean a lot to you. In fact, just leaving the hospital you may have their identification bands, their cap, and even the outfit they wore home. These are all great items to keep in a keepsake box. Easily placed in a corner of a closet, these boxes are very easy to use and offer a great tool for collecting items.
Picture Albums: A simple form of collecting pictures is the picture album. You simply need to print off or purchase your pictures and put them into place. It only takes a few minutes to jot a note on the back of the picture to get things started.
Scrapbooks: Another way to keep hold of your memories is a scrapbook. Many new moms and dads have good intentions of using a scrapbook but they may easily become overwhelmed. If you are worried they will be too much trouble, don’t be. They do not have to be updated often and you can often do them whenever you have time. They are not complex, but can easily be added to by pre-purchased items and sheets. The process can be easy.
Video: Filming the birth of your child, their journey home and everything until their college graduation is becoming a common family occurrence. With a smartphone and the cloud, all those memories are easily tucked away. Video works very well to capture memories since it is a moving documentation of the events. And don’t just go for the planned birthdays, school performances, and holidays. Capture the little things such as a dance-off, making family dinner or family game night.
Which way is the best way for you to keep memories of your child? Choosing several methods may work best for you. The key is to capture are many memories as you can and then to keep them safe. When you use several options, you are able to get more information than you could with just one.
For example, perhaps you have a video recording of your child’s first birthday. You can see everything that is happening. Now, you want a few pictures, too to add to the scrapbook that you are creating and to send to friends. Add to that a few great notes in your journal about the day and the way you were feeling and you have a complete memory of the event that will last a lifetime. Go for it, your child will appreciate it in the years to come, and so will you.
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