For all you new parents out there, all you think about is your child. The way they laugh, the way they cry, even the way they wake you up at 3am with an empty tummy and a loaded diaper. Even though some of the memories are painful, most of the memories are happy moments. You will want to do your best to remember those occasions. There are so many ways to preserve your children's childhood. Some are simple, some are complicated. Do something special for your child though, savor those memories creatively.
Instead of a baby book, make a scrap book. Each page a different subject in your newborns life. Starting with the day they were born, put pictures of the occasion, your child's length and weight, time of birth, who was there, color hair. You know, all the stuff you would put in to a baby book, but bring it to life. Add color, and stickers and fancy penmanship. Then, go through your child's first 12 months. One month for each page. On each of the pages, tell a story about what your child learned how to do that month, or how many teeth they got in and when. You can write when they started walking, and add a picture of your child doing so. Decorate each page with fun cut outs and related stickers. This way when your child grows up and asks you to see their baby book, you can hand them something that they new you took time to do for them. They will appreciate it much more than filling in the blanks on a baby book.
Most people these days have a digital camera or video recorder. Instead of just taking pictures and printing them out and putting them in a photo album, make a movie. When your child is a baby, each month, take photos or videos of your child with your camera and when you go to print them up, request a DVD of the picture slide show. You can even do this from your home computer, if you have the proper software. Windows Vista has the software already on the operating system. Just put your pictures or movies in a slide show, add some memorable music to the pictures and burn your DVD. In minutes you will have a movie of your pictures or a movie of what your kid did that month. Make a pocket in each month of your baby's scrap book, and insert the DVD movie or pictures so when your baby is older, they can watch what they were like when they were a baby.
Painting your child's whole hand and pressing it down on paper just to have a hand print is always a great way to preserve your child's memories. Looking at those tiny hand and thinking of all the wonderful things those hands will accomplish when they are bigger. Usually, when you do such a thing, it is on paper and you hang your child's hand prints on the wall in a frame. Well, not many people get to see that. I would want to wear my children's hand prints proudly so everyone can see them. For example, go to the thrift store and purchase a jean jacket, have your kids put their hand prints all over the jacket, then you can wear them everywhere. Another example is to put them on a t-shirt and write their names underneath each print and write something like "future surgeons" on the shirt or something like that. Maybe, if you have an old pair of jeans, you can have them slap their prints on the legs or the butt of the jeans. Get creative, show off those proud hands.
A lot of parents measure their children's heights by marking on the wall or a door or they use a measuring chart. Well, that my friends is so boring! Try building something with your kids that will represent their height. For example, purchase some Lego's, and build a tower with your kids that is exactly as tall as they are. Mark the very tippy top block with the height and date and as they grow, add to the building. To keep the building in tack, glue each piece together, so that when your children are older, they have something cool to remember growing up by.
For each stage of your child's life, up until they are teenagers, save one of their toys. For example, when they are a baby, save their favorite rattle and so on and so forth. Save their favorite toys once they have grown out of them. When your child is older and maybe has children of their own, give them the box of toys you saved for each stage of their life. Don't let them know you are saving the toys, let it be a surprise. This will have your child in tears and you know they would appreciate it.
Your child is only a child for a few short years. Make sure your make the best of those years. Savor every moment with your child, because soon, they will grow up and you will never have that time back. Give them back those memories when they are older in a creative way so that your child knows you did your best to preserve their memories. It will mean so much more to them.
