How to Capture your Memories
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Are you looking for ways to capture your memories, but don’t know where to start? Or do you feel like you are trying to capture them in too many different ways and you can’t narrow it down? From the moment I had my first child, I realized I wanted to remember all the feelings and moments of being a mother. Since then, I’ve focused on 4 areas of memory preservation-Photos, Video, Written and Material.
Why take the time?
You might be thinking, isn’t it better to be present, in the moment, and not take the pictures. There’s a part of me that wants to agree with that. But here’s what I’ll say…go back 5 years and look at the pictures of your kids, your parents, your family. You’ll hear a voice in the back of your head saying, I’m so glad I captured this moment, otherwise I may have forgotten.
You never know when your last day will be, or your spouse’s, or your parents’, or your child’s. Don’t feel bad about being a mama-razzi. You will be glad for it years from now (and so will your kids). I want to remember every moment. If I’m not here, I want my kids to remember how much I loved them, or their dad loved them, or their grandparents, great-grandparents. You’ll want to remember every story behind the photos- they bring back feelings and evoke emotions. Take, for example, the photo below. This is my grandpa holding my dad as a newborn. I clearly wasn’t there when this photo was taken, but every time I look at it, I get emotional because it brings back memories of how caring, gentle and loving my grandpa was. I am grateful that someone took the time to capture this moment for all of us.
My Father was born in Guam, as my Grandfather was stationed there when he served in the Navy as a Dentist.
Ways to capture Memories:
Photos-January each year I make a Shutterfly book and call it the Keane Kronichles. This means, at least once a year, I am going through my photos, deleting the duplicates and editing the ones I want to keep. It’s great because Shutterfly saves all your digital files on their website. I used to scrapbook but then life became too busy to finish each scrapbook, plus they take up a lot of space, their costly…and scrapbooks can’t be saved digitally.
Video-Each June, I take the time to make a video for my husband on Father’s day. It’s a compilation of videos from the past year set to a few songs. I still keep the raw video, but this way, I have the best videos in one place. I stick it on my YouTube page, so I’ll have those in case of natural disaster where I may lose all my raw videos.
Written- For those times that you don’t have your camera available, keep a journal with your written memories. This may seem daunting, but in fact, it is quite simple. Write a short note, just one or two sentences a day or once a week, or once a month. I call it my Mommy journal. I write down birthday messages, quotes, memories along with my thoughts and feelings. One day I will let my kids read through it so they can get an insight as to who I am as their mom and my unconditional love for them. Don’t know what to write? Try ordering a book called Kept. It is a baby book with questions to get you started.
Material- I’ve made boxes for each of my kids. Every time they win an award, bring home report cards, get doctor check-ups, receive artwork, etc. I simply add it to the box for when they get older. Occasionally, the kids get a kick out of going through their boxes to look at all of their accomplishments over the years.
Other Ideas to capture memories:
Email address for your kids- Another idea that a friend of mine does…she set up an email when her kids were born. She sends emails to her kids with photos, videos and notes. You could give the email address and password to your kid on one of their birthdays or when they graduate from high school. This is a quick, easy way to capture memories and pass them on to your kids.
Grateful Jar- Throughout the year, you add notes on a piece of paper and stick it in a jar. Then, leading up to Thanksgiving you read each memory out loud, remembering each one with grateful hearts.
I find it to be rewarding to capture these sacred moments with our families. It’s entertaining to look back, to see how much they’ve developed and how much we’ve all grown. I hope you are able to use some of these ideas to capture your own memories.
Do you feel like a mama-razzi sometimes? How do you capture your memories? When you look back at the memories, are you glad you captured them?
Come again, stay longer!
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