Making Memories

Big and small, the moments we share with our children are the stuff of memories

This is the time of year I sit down to compose our family's annual holiday letter. Before I put pen to paper, I usually flip through the family calendar and refresh my memory of all that happened the previous year. The dated squares of this dog-eared desk-size log are covered in multicolored scribbles and White Out. It chronicles everything from pediatrician appointments to play dates, but unlike a scrapbook it fails to reflect memories we made over the months.

This is one of the reasons I enjoy the hobby of scrapbooking so much, although I am woefully behind in putting all the photographs we have taken of our children into books. There is a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I complete a page of pictures and memorabilia but, for me, a layout is not truly finished until I have taken the time to journal or write down the anecdotes and thoughts that accompany the pictures.

Thankfully, I had more time to scrapbook this past year and I have several dozen completed pages to show for my efforts. These layouts are a true hodgepodge: some feature photographs of my daughter before she could walk yet others are as recent as this past summer when my now 4-year-old bade farewell to her first preschool teachers. Whenever I sit down to scrapbook, I like to look through the many pictures taken over the year. Like the family calendar, these often colorful images refresh my memory.

Our family did not go any big vacations in 2005, but there are plenty of pictures from birthdays, holidays, visits with family and our children at play. I carry a small digital camera in my purse just in case a I want to catch a special moment for posterity. Some of my favorite photos this year were of Barcelona and Berkeley peering out of a window, watching birds eat bugs in our garden. My children's fascination in the simple things never ceases to amaze me and this is a memory I wanted to capture on film.

Nothing makes a parent realize the importance of these stolen moments more than our own mortality. This hit home for us when two very close relatives were diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. The time spent with our children and extended family suddenly seemed more precious to all of us. My husband and I understood we were making memories not just for ourselves, but for our children as well. The scrapbooks are just one way I hope to help preserve these special times together.

The year 2005 was marked with many milestones including my son's first birthday, my daughter's first dance recital, the children's baptism, and my husband's and my fifth wedding anniversary. But these events were just as memorable for us as our quiet dinners together, family bike rides and long-distance phone calls and e-mails exchanged with extended family. When I review the year's calendar and look through our scrapbooks, I can get a little lost in the thoughts they stir in my heart and mind.

Already I know I will have a hard time narrowing down the year's high points when it comes time to write our family's holiday letter. The memories of this year, all of them wonderful...

Mommy Time Column ~ December 2005