How do all of you more organized mommies keep track of your kids' memorable moments and funny stories? I had this grandiose idea of writing them all down in a baby book (diary). But this didn't work out. I'm horrible at journaling these days because it takes a lot time to sit down and handwrite anything. I've put off writing them digitally because I'm afraid the computer will one day devour all my memories in one mega-crash. So all my baby-lore is currently being filed mentally in this momma's head. As you can guess, this data storage base quickly goes into overload because of all the information it processes in a given day. Hence, I deem it an unreliable source.
My solution has been to open two Word documents - one entitled "The Book of Greta: 2 Years" and the other, "The Book of Joseph: The First Year." I keep them easily accessible on my computer and when something funny or memorable happens to one of the kids, I type it up in my "baby book." I will print these out and put them in binders for posterity or to humiliate the kids later in life.
So what do you do along these lines or would like to do? I could use ideas.
Great idea on the word docs! I have a baby book that I really love that I've tried to keep for James, but more often than not, I just try to remember what happens. Of course, that doesn't work!
ReplyDeleteI've had this same kind of panic about pictures recently. All the kids' pictures are digital. I have them saved in two separate spots (the external hard drive and the computer itself), but then I thought, "What if we get robbed? Surely they won't stop to consider I might want my pictures and leave us the external hard drive; they'll take everything." So now I'm trying to figure out a THIRD backup plan for all these pictures. As if we don't have enough to worry about being moms, right?
ReplyDeletehaha! yeah, I need something else for Pictures. I was thinking of simply putting them into my word docs as suits the need. One thing you might think of, janel, is online storage. Then the robbers will never get your pictures :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law had a calendar in her kitchen and whenever the kids did something super cute or hit a milestone, she wrote it in the calendar box for that day. It was so fun to go through them later!
ReplyDeleteI use my blog to keep in touch with family that lives far away and update them on the kids achievements. I also take a ridiculous amount of pictures so I can see what stage they are at as they grow. I'm really bad at keeping track of stuff though and I used to scrapbook to keep track but the kids eat the paper and steal the scissors so I can't do that anymore!!
My Grandma had a decade journal. Each page had a date on the top and was divided into ten lines for the each year of that decade. The idea was that you weren't doing traditional journaling but just summarizing the day in one sentence. It was always cute when she would give us a call to remind my mom that I had lost my first tooth five years ago today, or something like that ;)
ReplyDeleteHow about a private blog for each of them? That way it is stored out in cyberspace.
ReplyDeleteTwo ideas here. We started an email account for Evie (inspired by the google chrome commercial) and send her emails, attaching pictures or video when possible. We also send her occasional letters about herself for future reading. It's great because other people can do the same and it's all stored off our hard-drive.
ReplyDeleteSecond, someone gave me a baby's first year calendar, which I LOVE and found really easy to keep up with. Stefan's mom gave me the one she did for him so I was totally inspired to keep up because it was so much fun to be able to look back on his first year. I'm currently working on designing one with my own illustrations but not finding a lot of time to work on it (maybe if I stop reading blogs!). I'll send you one if I ever get it done, hopefully before you have another child!