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I recently went through those old shoe boxes filled with family photos and decided that it was finally time to do something with them. Like most parents I must have hundreds of pictures of my kids dating from the day that they were born to the present. All of my photo albums too were filled. These pictures I tried to put in some semblance of order but they didn't tell the stories that I wanted to convey. I decided to try my hand at scrapbooking. I purchased a large, plain white binder - one that can be decorated with a cover and finished off any way I saw fit - along with some inexpensive scrapbook kits and set to work. I realized that it was really a simple, inexpensive way to preserve not only the pictures but the memories and stories that go with each photo as well. Try getting a three ring type of photo binder that you can add future pages to and move your pages around. The possibilities are endless as to what you can do with some basic supplies and some ingenuity and imagination.
While almost everyone has pictures of their children growing up there are also other ways to capture precious once in a lifetime memories. You can't capture your child's first words in a photo - but you can on a cassette tape. From the time our children were very young we started tape recording them. We recorded their coos and cries of infancy, their first utterances of "Mama" and "Dada", right up to where we are now - their recitations of the alphabet. It is amazing to not only see in pictures but also to hear how they've grown so.
Of course, there is also a way to have the best of both worlds. If you have a video cassette recorder or a chance to borrow one on occasion your can capture true to life memories. Purchase a high quality blank video cassette tape and title it with your child's name and begin filming. Using the same tape, pull it out on special occasions - holidays, summer vacation, the first day of school - or just whenever the mood hits you. Every time you record start where you left off the previous time. You'll be amazed when you watch it at how your child has changed each time you record.
There are so many ways to preserve precious memories and to watch your child grow. Even small, simple things that can be so much fun to do together as a family.
Create a handprint book. Every few months have your child dip his or her hands in paint and stamp a page in the book.
Make a growth chart. On a wall mark your child's height every birthday and label with the date and your child's age.
Save locks of our child's hair every time they get a hair cut and include them in your scrapbook. You'll be surprised by how the color and texture has changed over the years.
Use your imagination. There are so many ways to create permanent logs of your child's growth and development. Preserve those memories and show your children just how much you love them.
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