Family History --Treasuring Memories

Every year at the first of the year, I write a "family history" of
the past year. I skim through my journal from the previous year
and write down the highlights for each month. I write a history
each year for each of my children as well. I write my baby's
history in first person as if he were writing it. I highlight
important events such as when he first sat up, first started
crawling, and so forth. For the older children, I write down
all of the funny things that they said and did throughout the
year. I also let them tell the events of the year in their own
words.

My children's grandma actually came up with the idea of having the
grandchildren do a family history each year. At the end of the year
(or beginning of the new year) she will sit down with each child
and ask them questions to get them talking and then she types out
every word that they say. The older kids can type their own.
Grandma then prints the histories along with pictures for each
grandchild and compiles them into a binder for each of her kids'
families.

The histories are absolutely priceless! They are not only
informative, they are hilarious! We've had all sorts of things
come up in the histories - especially from the younger children
who are shockingly honest. When my son was five year old, he
matter-of-factly explained what the doctors saw on his baby
brother's ultrasound - and how they knew it was a boy and not a
girl! My four year old daughter explained that her "skinny grandpa
sleeps all of the time" and that her "fat grandpa was Santa Clause!"

We all get a kick out of reading the histories and the kids' love
to read their own histories over and over as they get older. They
are something we will treasure forever! I hope you will take the
time to record the events that happen both in your life and that of
your children. You will come to treasure those memories even more
and future generations will thank you for it!