An Invitation to My Readers (All Four of You)

One of the things I have loved about the blogosphere, even before I started my blog, is the way that it allows us to share ideas. I have found lots of great ideas from places like the Rocks in My Dryer “Works for Me Wednesday” entries and other smart and innovative bloggers out there. In that tradition, I want to initiate some sharing at TwoSquare. This is a totally selfish idea, because I know that y’all have some great ideas. So this is my first (and maybe only) request for entries. Let’s call it Midnight Snacks, since that is when most of my posts get published.

Most of you know how it goes. Write a post on the topic and link back to my blog somewhere in your post. Leave a comment to let me know you have participated. The more people we get involved, the more ideas we get. And we can share blogosphere friends this way. Heck, I would love to get my Southern friends reading my Midwestern friends’ blogs every once in a while. Y’all would love each other. So I hope you’ll join in the fun. If you don't have a blog, just leave your idea in the comments. Now, on to the topic…

Midnight Snacks: (Un)Creative Memories for Slackers

Before I was a mom, I was really into scrapbooking. I had all the stuff: books, stickers, paper, cutters. The books weren’t beautiful or incredibly artistic, because I’m not, but they worked. I still have all that stuff, packed away somewhere, along with the boxes of photos that I intended to put in baby books. Somewhere along the way, the whole process of taking digital prints, ordering them online, and putting them in scrapbooks seemed too cumbersome. Then I got a Mac! If there is an easier way to do it, Apple has figured it out. So now I have tons of digital photos saved on my computer and waiting to be put into digital scrapbooks that Apple prints for me. One day.

But I digress. The point is that I am NOT good at organizing photos any more. I just make sure my computer is backed up regularly and content myself with that for now. When the kids are older, I will get it in books. But there are some ways that I have found to record memories for my family that I would love to share.

Memory Journals

When Hobbes was about six months old, and I was coming out of my fog, I bought two leather bound sketchbooks. Every month, on the date of his birth, I write a letter to each son, recording the funny things he is saying and doing, and noting the things I love about him, the ways he is growing, and the ways he has yet to grow. This has become an important time for me to reflect on what makes each boy special and to think about how to parent him well. I also write down funny things when they happen if I have time, but I definitely make sure to do this at least once a month. For those of you who don’t have kids, I hope you do journal. I missed this so much once I got married and had kids, and this has been a small way to get it back.

Can’t Live Without It Camera

My father-in-law consulted for the company that makes this little camcorder, and now I can’t live without it. I will never be a person who uses a serious recorder to take hours of footage and edit it to file away for posterity. This recorder shoots about 30 minutes of footage, great for funny things, kids’ firsts, or strange cultural sights. It is lightweight and small, and, best of all, it has all the software you need right on it. You just plug it right into your USB and go from there. It’s even easy on a PC! It is worth the investment, even if you have a video option on your camera. It is much better quality and saves the memory on you camera for still shots. I had a bit of trouble with it at one point and got fast and excellent help from the company. (I didn’t even tell them who my father-in-law was.)

So now it is your turn. What do you do to preserve your memories? (Non mommies please share ideas too!) Write a post. Link to me in your post. And be sure to leave a comment here. I will write another post with links to your ideas in a few days so that you can find each other.