So I'm here to tell you something important: Keep records. Those of us who are LDS are counseled by both the scriptures and our church leaders to keep a record of our lives, but if that doesn't provide sufficient motivation, allow my experience with Eli last night to help you along.
Eli and I read stories about conversations I had with Seth when he was nine years old. We laughed and laughed. "Mom, do you really think P90X is a good idea. Look at the computer; that girl's leg is much higher than yours. You'll never have a beach body." We read stories about Luke's PhD graduation, and Shulamith's engagement and wedding, and Isaiah's audition for "Mr. Skyview" his senior year in high school. We read stories of joy and frustration, excitement and disappointment, happiness and fear. The stuff of life. All the things that make us family, along with a few of my personal opinion pieces (mostly about parenting and politics) thrown in.
Of course Eli's favorite stories are the ones about him: church basketball, prom, college, mission. It seems everyone likes to read about him or herself. Even my friend Lindsey tells me she gets excited whenever she turns up in one of my posts: "One time we got a whole paragraph!"
But here's the thing. I only have a record of the past nine years. I only began blogging nine years ago, and though I'm pretty darn prolific, this is still only my 558th post. And nothing prior to 2009 is covered. When I see the joy my kids experience looking back at these stories, I grieve the fact that they go back only nine years.
So my advice? Start now! Make record keeping a priority. I get that you may not enjoy writing as much as I do, that it may not be therapy for you. But do it anyway. Your kids will thank you. You will thank you.
ITS LEGS: In search of memories.
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