We spent yesterday evening at my parent’s house.
At a lull in the action, I decided to look through a few old photo albums. Moments after opening the cover I was flooded with, not only my terrible fashion sense, but the memories held by the pictures…
my first dog, the playhouse my dad build that became home to a family of bunnies, the “swing as high as you can then jump off the swing set trick” (my brother’s, not mine, I was mildly on the petrified side).
Barely through the pages of my early childhood we were already smiling in the memories. And then I looked at my children who were in utter disbelief that I was ever someone other than Mom and the panic set it.
They are going to remember this. I was just as old as they are now in these photos and I remember so much.
I tried to slow my heartbeat and calm my urge to read their every book request while making homemade play-dough and booking a trip to Disney World.
If the pictures I had snapped with my iPhone today were neatly placed in albums of their childhood would they someday sit on my couch and giggle through the pages?
As my kids fought the pull of bedtime on our drive home I cataloged the day… I may have yelled get. back. in. here./down here/upstairs through gritted teeth more than once, looked at my phone instead of the pages we were coloring and sighed a dramatic sigh of relief as we entered my parents home because someone else could play Attack of the Monsters on Dora.
I was rising to a panic over the putting together of our photo album.
And then a sleepy voice from the back seat slapped me out of my stupor by calling attention to a sliver of the moon. We oohed and ahhed over how it glowed, we counted to 100 and I told my most requested Mommy Story until giggles turned into the slowed breaths of sleep.
I drove the rest of the way whispering back and forth with my teenager about girl drama and math homework,
feeling a little bit better about this album we are creating and vowing to make an even better page tomorrow.
How do you contribute to the photo album of your life?
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Ohmyheart, this is humbling.
And a perfect reminder to read in this quiet, before I start my day, my memory making.
(Thank you.)
I struggle with this from time to time because it seems that life just gets in the way of creating a great photo album. We’ve tried so hard to make special time just for the boys – bed time stories, breakfast out on Saturdays and things like that. I can only hope that these things will stick with my boys.
That’s why I love instant cameras so much! I always take a shot with my polaroid from every remarkable moment and I permanently stick ’em into an album, it will be bigger and bigger every day, it’s already huge, but I’m sure they will love it!
I’m sure your children’s photo albums will be overwhelmingly filled with great memories 🙂 This is something I try to keep in mind – if there was a video or tons of photos taken of today, would I like what I saw? Would it be something I’d want to look at again? – but you just have such a way with words. Great post!
I grew up in a not so stellar environment…so a lot of the memories I have that stick out are the ones when we did things as a family. I love looking back on old photos and forgetting things like when my dad would lash out and yadda yadda. Those “happy” moments out number the bad ones.
Your children love you immensly and you are doing a wonderful job at making their childhood special. You really are.
xoxo
Popped in from SITS to say hi! I love taking pictures and working on my real scrapbook–the trick is not to get caught up in preserving the memories to where you’re not living them!
I just know you are filling your album with good things. Because not only will they remember the cool things you do, but they will remember the laughing and the hugs and the emotion that’s present in all of your days. (And I can’t remember my mom ever losing patience until I was in high school. So I like to think maybe my kids will conveniently forget some of my not-so-stellar moments? Maybe?)
What a sweet post! I love those trips down memory lane! I was just remembering my own “swing as high as you can and jump!” memories as I pushed my daughter on the swing a few days ago. (In fact, that was my last post!) That is her favorite past time, and lately I have been filling her memory album by just simply taking the time to push her on the swings. Seems that there is always “something else to do” – laundry, blogging, picking up after three little kids, meals to make, homework to be done… etc, etc. It’s easy to squander the small time we have with our little ones. So I am trying to make a larger effort to be “present” with my children, not just in the same room!
“If the pictures I had snapped with my iPhone today were neatly placed in albums of their childhood would they someday sit on my couch and giggle through the pages?”
Gosh, I love this quote. Such a great reminder, it’s not even about just documenting the photos but enjoying the moments not documented. Thank you for making me think this Saturday morning. Today will be a day that I document the memories in my mind! 🙂
I have a feeling your photo album has many more wonderful, warm images for you and your children to enjoy in coming years than you credit. You don’t have to be SuperMum, no one does, you just have to be Mum. We can still do our own thing and be an active and involved parent, it does mean listening to that voice that tells us what is really needed. Keep making wonderful memories with your lovely children, love to you all.
Beautiful post, this. And I’m so happy you are taking the time out of your day to organize the photographs that will become lasting memories to your children. They will be beautiful reminders to them one day 🙂
Funny. I was just thinking about this the other day. How I no longer own physical copies of any of my photos. I want to change that and start documenting my life on the walls of my apartment as opposed to keeping it only on the walls of my Facebook.
I’ve never thought of it that way…that some of the moments I remember from growing up were at the same age that my son is now. When you put it that way, there is some added pressure to up the anty and make sure that we give our kids the “right” memories. But at the same time, I want my sons to remember that their parents were not only active in their lives, but that they had individual lives and goals and ambitions that they worked hard to achieve. I want them to remember the good times and the laughter and the giggles…while still remembering the moments that were hard. Because those moments are the pulp of life…the moments that mold us into the people we become. And you? You are doing a fantastic job. There’s no doubt in my mind that your children will look back on their life stories and remember that their mama loved them to pieces. 🙂
First of all, I have forgiven myself for not being able to give 100% of myself 100% of the time. What makes the most difference in my world is just being aware – like you said, taking a few minutes to admire the moon together, to share a hug, to whisper. To be fully present and engaged. Last night we built a little campfire out of the cornstalks in our field, because they burn fast and make great marshmallow roasting-coals. These are the things I believe they will remember. I know they’ll also remember my shortcomings, and all I can do is continue to ask their forgiveness.
I think about this all the time. My first is nearly 3 and I know that he will remember these times. And so memory making is what we focus on as much as possible. It may not be perfect, but we’re trying at least.
I know this feeling. It is why I have chosen to step anyway from my blog. And why I am working on changing my routine, my bedtime and the order of my priorities. The way I had my life structured was not allowing us to create good memories. Our photo album was mostly empty. Now it’s not. And I couldn’t be happier about that.
I would bet your photo album is has more great memories than you realize. And I would bet that there were times in between those things you remember from your childhood when mom snapped at you and your brother. You don’t remember them because the good memories are what counts.
Couldn’t agree more. I hope my kids do exactly that, remember the good memories much more than the not-so-good.