Memories! Everyone wants to look back and remember the good times and the bad. As a mum of 4, I love to gather my kids around the fireplace on a cold night and flick through old photo albums. I always find that my boys use this time to deny ever being babies and they are so astonished that they too were the ‘new’ member of the family.
Every year my DH and I make a digital photo album. My DH uploads all the photos that we took over the year and I make it look all pretty. It can take a whole day to make this photobook, but it is totally worth it. I tend to buy credits through Photobox and they can give up to 3 months to create your masterpiece (if you need that long). Photos can be resized and edited to make the photobook extra special. I put a caption on each photo which really brings the memory to life. This is by far the best way to summarise the year and a great way to be able to look back on the past.
Furthermore, all my kids have their own scrapbook and the kids help me to fill it with lots of adventures. It includes drawings that they did in nursery/school. What we do is start a memory jar in January and then in December we take out all the memories and put them into the scrap book.I can’t keep them all, so only the very special memories make the scrapbook. I have also kept things like:
*the children’s hospital bracelet
*their school reports
*boarding pass from their first holiday abroad
* ticket stubs from concerts and plays seashells from that special trip to the beach
If there are things that I can’t fit into the scrapbook, I then make sure I take a picture and include it in the photo book.
As you can imagine, I have gone through a lot of clothes over the years and most of them have a story attached to them. I can’t keep all the items of clothing, therefore what I have done is make a mini patchwork quilt for each child.
First, I sifted through the kid’s baby clothes which were in bags in the loft. I picked out the ones that have the best memories attached to them and cut them into squares. I then sewed all the squares together to make a beautiful quilt which is full of memories.
Even more, I encourage my kids to write a journal and fill it out every single day. This has become a habit for them and also a great way for them to keep a record of how they feel. Looking back on past journals, I hope the journals will allow the kids to see how much they have grown as a person over the years.
Lastly, I have created an email address for each of my kids. Every few months I write them all an email detailing their achievements and any funny stories about them. You MUST remember to log into the kids email accounts regularly else the account is deactivated.
I hope you enjoy documenting your precious family memories… and if you have any ideas, please do share!
By Mandeep Rai Canterbury
Mandeep Rai Canterbury 