The following post is written by Steady Mom's monthly contributor, Kat.
Confession #1: I'm not crafty. At all. I don't stamp, sew or knit. I stink at scrapbooking. I'm not even good at printing photos and putting in frames around the house.
This, my friends, is a bad combo.
The Problem
I have a couple boxes of mementos that I always "mean" to put in a scrapbook of some sort, but I never do (see confession #1). As a result, we only revisit fun memories when I sort through the boxes.
Sadly, I rarely sort through them and when I do it's usually without the children around, even though I know they'd love to be reminded of some of the fun places we've been and things we've done.
The Perfect Solution - A Memory Box
I don't know where I first heard about this idea, but I've long known it's the perfect solution for me. It's called a memory box.
Basically, I bought 365 4x6 index cards, a large index card box and some dividers. I labeled the months of the year on the dividers and then I wrote all 365 days of the year on the cards. Then I put them, in order, into the box.The box, along with a pen, now sits in the dining room. Whenever something notable happens, I write the year and a one or two line description of what happened. At the end of each day I move the card to the back and the card for the new day is waiting for a memory.
The idea is that over the years, we'll have cards filled with memories for each day and at a glance we'll be able to see the fun or funny things that happened on that date all the years before.
The Benefits
1. It's small.
It doesn't take up much room at all. It's portable. And it sits nicely in a spot where we'll see it often and remember to write our memories.
As the years go on, our memories won't fill bookshelves or closets - just the same simple box.
2. It's simple.There's no glue, cutting, or supplies involved. All that is required is an ability to write small and be succinct.
3. It's easy.
It's so simple that even my kids can jot things down. If we fill up a card assigned to a certain date, we can just add another one.
But since I try to limit each entry to one or two lines, I think it will be 10-15 years before any of the cards get filled.
4. It's a treasure.I think our family will love looking over the day's card at dinner, laughing about memories from years gone by.
5. It's Backupable.I made that word up. It's it fun. I may not be crafty, but I AM creative.
Backupable. Backupable. Backupable. So fun to say...
Where was I?
Oh, yes, it's backupable. Every year or so, spend just a few hours scanning (or photographing) the cards and you have an extra copy of all your memories.
Better yet, use your camera phone to take a photo of a card whenever you write something. Then upload it to Evernote and you have an instant, scannable backup.
So if you ever feel overwhelmed or paralyzed at the idea of preserving family memories, this idea might be a great solution for you.
Here's to years of making, keeping and revisiting our memories...
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Kat blogs at Inspired To Action, a site helping moms develop the skills they need to manage their homes and raise children who are prepared to change the world. Kat and her husband Jimmy live in Texas and have 3 children ages 7, 5 and 3. Kat loves music, running, technology, Jesus and Tex-Mex food. Not necessarily in that order.