As a mom we are constantly trying to capture everything our kids are doing. We strive to not miss a single thing so we are always recording kids memories and moments. We video those first baby days of doing something new each day. Then we record school events and numerous activities all because we want to document every waking moment.
I love looking back at my own baby and kid photo albums, scrapbooks, keepsakes and home movies from when I was young. It is so much fun to reminisce and look back at memorabilia of my childhood days. I usually end up looking or watching longer than I anticipated. In the end, it warms my heart and I am so thankful to have these momentos.
Why Record Kids Memories and Moments
My husband jokes with me that I am continually taking pictures or videos of our kids. Of course I am – I do not disagree. I am trying to capture every moment of their lives. There are several reasons I do this.
- It is fun to look back when my kids were younger and compare them to each other. When my youngest is doing something I like to look back and see if my oldest was doing the same thing at the same age.
- I want my kids to have documentation of their childhood and their awards and achievements. They should be able to look back at all their memories and have pictures and videos of when they were young like I did. Especially with the photo and video capability we have these days, I want to take advantage of every opportunity.
- Lastly, I send some of these photos and videos to family. It keeps them up to date on the kids and they love to see what they are doing.
Ways to Record Kids Memories and Moments
Tracking and keeping up with everything the kids are doing can be difficult no doubt. There are many different ways of recording kids memories and tracking moments. Some of these are more involved and time consuming than others. Here are some options for recording your kid memories and moments:
- Pictures/Photographs
- Videos
- Baby Books
- School Aged Books
- Photo books
- Picture albums
- Scrapbooks
- Photo storage apps/websites
- Keepsakes
- Awards
- Momentos
Doing a combination of all of these should capture all aspects of your kids childhood.
How to Record Kid Memories and Moments
Recording my kids memories became overwhelming so I came up with a process and system to keep it all straight. I stick to the system because it makes it harder if I get behind.
Pictures and Videos
I take lots of pictures and videos to record kid memories. The nice option these days is that I can always delete them later if I do not need them or have duplicates. At any activity, special event, or party I try to take pictures and videos to record kid memories. In addition, I have the kids take pictures with other people there like grandparents, family, or friends as those pictures come in handy too. Lastly, I capture photos or videos with anything new or cute they are doing.
Currently, I use my cell phone to take pictures and videos. Phones have come a long way the past few years and my phone pictures turn out pretty well. 5 years ago before my son was born we invested in a more professional camera, but that is already outdated and our cell phones take a better picture and are easier to work with.
Every once in a while I like to get professional photos done. Each year I search for a good deal or groupon for a photographer. It is nice to get a more professional sitting to capture the kids and our family.
Picture Storage
It is great to take and have a lot of photos, but then what. Do you ever look at them again? Do you have a way to store them and organize them? What about developing them?
First, there are ways online to store photos like shutterfly, dropbox, google photos, apple icloud, and Walgreens. It can be done through apps or websites and are generally free and unlimited.
Secondly, a place to store photos is on your computer and/or an external hard drive.
Next, photo albums are another way to store photos, but is becoming more obsolete. There are several reasons why. First, it can get costly to develop photos and buy albums to store them. Second, the more photos you have the more albums you have and these take space to store. Photo boxes are a less time consuming way to store developed pictures, but they too take space.
Picture Books
Another fun momento for recording kids memories is to create a yearly digital photo book. This is a newer and more creative way of doing a photo album. It is easy to do online, you can fit lots of pictures on each page, and include text on the page too. They have different themes, colors, clip art and you can be as creative as you want.
Currently, I do a photo book for each kid yearly and it ends with their birthday. So their first book was year one of their life and ended with their first birthday. Along with the pictures, I write fun notes, facts and memories on each page. For more on how to take notes to record kid memories see below.
Video Storage
Video storage is still a newer topic for me and I am trying to find the best way to store and link my videos together. Right now I make sure they are backed up online and saved to an external hard drive so I do not lose them.
Baby Books and School Books
Baby books and school aged books are great ways to record important events and dates. I have done baby books for both my kids. Actually, I just finished my 4 year old’s book! So this year since he is in K4 I began to work on and write notes in a school age book.
I put a reminder in my phone each January and July to work on the books. It is easy to forget about them and before you know it a year has gone by. So in January during my winter break I get out the baby book and school book and write in them for each kid. I have found baby and school books are great winter projects when you are stuck inside. Then in the summer I pull them out again and fill out more. This way twice a year I am making progress in the book.
Taking Notes on Kid Memories and Moments
Besides pictures and videos taking notes throughout their childhood is a large part of recording kids memories and moments. Kids change so much and so fast so notes help to remember those details. I use specific note sheets throughout the year to record kid memories, firsts, and special information. See below for the sheets I use.
Furthermore pictures at times need more explanation so these notes can do just that. So I take these notes to include them in their baby books, school books, and photo books.
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Recording Baby Notes
A baby has a lot of special things and firsts to track. The first year of a baby’s life there is something to record almost each week. For baby milestone tracking assistance, use my baby moments tracking sheet which you can find at the bottom of this post. The moments go in a general order of what happens next so you know what to watch for (I stress general as all babies are different).
For the first year or so of my baby’s life I use this sheet to record the first time they do things. From the first smile to the first steps, I use this sheet to record all my baby’s first. This way I will not forget anything when it comes time to work on the baby and picture book. Also, it is fun to compare each kid and when I was a baby. Scroll to the bottom of the post to get your own copy of this printable.
Recording Kids Notes
Next, I take notes on a monthly tracking sheet for each child. This includes measurements, illnesses, favorite foods and toys, and any special events that happened that month. When I sit down to do their books twice a year I do not have to sit and try remember what all happened. I can check my notes and it is easy to fill in the book.
For my 4 year old I typically keep 1 sheet for 2 months because not as much changes and he isn’t doing as many new things. To get my monthly child tracking sheet scroll down to the bottom of this post.
I keep my baby milestone and monthly kid memory and moment tracking sheet readily available with quick access at all times to write something down.
In addition, these monthly notes come in handy when I create their yearly photo book as I usually add in some key notes from each month. Scroll to the bottom of the post to get your own copy of this printable.
Tracking Notes Electronically
In my phone I keep a running note of memories and moments for each child. It is a good project when I am riding in the car. Whether we are on a short drive to church or a long drive to visit my husband’s family I spend time typing things in detail. Also, if I think of something at home I will take 30 sec to quick type it in. Then I make sure to transfer the notes to my tracking sheet or print out my tracking sheet notes so I have them for the books.
Sometimes it is hard to remember to take notes monthly or remember the last time I took notes. For this reason, I have the milestone list in my phone and I set a reminder for anything upcoming to be watching for. For example, when my baby was 4 months old I had events like sitting alone and first tooth at the top of my phone list ready to record the date they happened.
In addition, every other month I put a reminder on my phone to go into my notes and type about each kid. This way I am sure to have enough content for all their books.
Yearly Slideshow Video
There are so many cool things you can do with photos and one of them is to make a slide show with music. This is a great way to see a year in review of all your favorite pictures and to see how much your child has changed from start to finish. Each year for our kids birthday party we make a slide show of their previous year. It is fun to see the year in review and how they have changed over the year.
Recording and Keeping of Artifacts and Awards
Besides photos and books there is the collecting of artifacts of things your kids have done. This could include art projects, pictures they drew, school work, awards, achievements and more. Since my kids were 3 months old in daycare I have kept their best artwork in a large envelope. I make sure the month and year are on the back so we know how old they were when they made it.
The prize artifacts can be kept in a scrapbook with a small description and photos. My kids aren’t old enough yet for this, but someday I will create scrapbooks for them with all their awards and achievements. My mom made these for me and I love looking back at them. I am so thankful she did this for me. It has awards, pictures, newspaper articles, descriptions and more. Plus it is nice to know where all my items are and to see them in chronological order. They are easy to find if I am looking for something specific.
Final Thoughts on Recording Kids Memories and Moments
As parents we think we are going to remember every detail about our kids, what they do each day, and all their milestones. However, in reality there is no way we can remember absolutely everything. So I take lots of pictures, videos, create photo books, take notes, and complete baby books and school books to look back and remember everything. Moreover these are precious keepsakes for my kids so they can look back someday on their childhood too.
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