Sure, it's had its challenges but it's also been full of sweetness and times we don't want to forget. Sometimes I am struck by the notion that my three, three and under likely won't remember all the little things we did in these days. But somehow I just know that one experience builds upon another and another. In the end, they all add up to what I hope they will remember as a rich and loving and warm and even imperfectly beautiful childhood.
To help in their reflection, the last two summers we have memorialized some times in small ways. Last summer we took an unused small scrapbook and glued in pictures, ticket stubs, brochures, and the like. Then we wrote simple captions at the bottom of each page so we could "read" the summer's adventures together.
This summer we bought us some dollar frames from Michaels and the girls sponge painted them. I wrote the words "favorite memory" on the frames and then let my kids peruse a bunch of pics on our computer. They picked one of their favorites, we printed the photos out, and then we glued them on some remnant scrapbook paper to put inside the frames.
The girls love looking at the frames in their rooms. Next summer or even next season we can replace the pictures with what each girl is currently loving.
Another way, I hope, for them to remember how much I love making their childhood special.
Happy memory making!
~Katrina
