Thanks to camera phones and social media, it’s now easier than ever to capture and share precious moments with your family. Instagram is fun, but we love more physically permanent means of saving memories. NYMetroParents editorial director Dawn Roode shares a few of her favorite ways to hang on to the everyday happenings you never want to forget.
Share-Worthy Stuff
There are plenty of options on bookstore shelves that direct would-be writers to chronicle their days with questions and other prompts, but none quite as satisfying or quirky as 1 Page at a Time: A Daily Creative Companion by Adam J. Kurtz (Perigee; $15). It’s a book for using a pen in an age of Instagram, sure—but who’s to say you can’t pin, tweet, or gram pictures of your wittiest daily musings? Ideas in the pages: send snail mail to Internet friends; “write it huge;” sit with a friend and write notes to your future selves; and one I bookmarked: “Draw yourself a grid, then check off each box like a tiny accomplishment. That feels so good!” A great gift for a youngster who has graduated from lock-and-key diaries but rolls her eyes at ‘serious’ journaling (better yet, buy it for yourself).
Out of the Mouths of Babes
If you’re not a blogger, chances are, like me, you forget most of the amazingly original, witty, and surprising things your kids say every day. I can’t recall what my 5-year-old said yesterday in the car that cracked me up, no less the gems that came out of his mouth when he was 2! I can (painfully) browse through my Facebook history to find a few that I had time to share on the spot, but going forward I’ll be jotting down my guy’s funny-isms on these handy playing-card size Milestone Mini Cards (100 illustrated cards in set; $19.99).
Sign Me Up
This retro-chic wall decal (30×22 inches; $29.99), bold and personalized, looks painted on but peels easily away when your child wants to rearrange her room. It’s a nice option for older kids away at college, too.
Pass It On
When I was pregnant I wrote letters to my baby. Some were long missives about my hopes and dreams for him (though I didn’t yet know it would be a “him”) or what type of mother I hoped to be. Others were tiny cards with fleeting thoughts I’d had and wanted to share. I lovingly created a scrapbook for my unborn child and then morphed that into my DIY baby book. I cherish what resulted, but admit there were times I didn’t feel like “scrapbooking” it all together. Enter Letters to My Baby (Chronicle; $14.95), a ready-made book of graphically wonderful envelopes with fold-out pages bound and just waiting for your thoughts. Add this to your list of go-to baby shower gifts now, and imagine the cherished gift it will become once baby is all grown!
