Nanny to Mommy

You don't have to spend hours and money on scrapbooks to preserve your important memories. So, here are some easy and enjoyable ideas for preserving the precious memories of your family.

When you have kids, it's easy to feel like you're always on the go. It's all we can do to try to stay up with how quickly it goes by. In the blink of an eye, you're at Target with your baby daughter, looking for training bras for her. Whoa.

So, to stay up, we must devise strategies for remembering it all. Because no matter how hard we try, not everything will stick. When it comes to making and preserving enduring childhood memories, it's much simpler than you would imagine. Anything that is not a top priority for you doesn't have to cost hundreds of dollars in scrapbooking products. Keeping your phone may be all you need.

You'll be happy you did it, whichever you decide. To help you get started, here are a few suggestions.

Being a parent is very strange. You’re always full of mixed emotions, as so many situations demand different responses. For example, one of the joys of being a parent is watching your child grow up. You see them go from a tiny newborn into a toddler, then into a full-on child with a schoolbag on their back! Equally, this is also the worst thing about being a parent. You don’t want your child to grow up as you wish they could stay small and be your baby forever. You see, contrasting emotions! 

Realistically, you have to accept that your child will grow up, and you should embrace this. Tracking the growth of your child is a brilliant way to do just that. So, here are some creative ways you can document your child’s growth: 

Classes no longer mattered. They just muddled together.

Third period was my favorite class. Chorus. My best friend was in there. Her brother-in-law worked at the Pentagon and we had just learned it had been hit as well. My friends prayed together as a group. Our Choir Instructor let her leave to try and call her sister. Fortunately he was out sick that day.

Final period our class went to the Library to watch the footage. I felt exhausted arriving to the Library. I had been a long emotional day. But then watching the footage of the men and woman helping save others, I felt selfish. I was no longer tired.

My Father came to pick me up that day. Others had already left for the day. We went home and watched and waited. It was agonizing. And I cried. I had no idea why I was crying at the time. But I know now I was crying for all those people and their families. And the people trying to save them.

I was young and self-centered back then. It was the first time in my life something outside of my own existence had impacted me. And although I wasn't involved, how could I not look at those images and not be impacted? How can I still look at those images and not be impacted? How can anyone?