Clean & Clutter Free Professional Organizing Services

CLEAN & CLUTTER FREE BLOG

Simply Organized

  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • VIRTUAL ORGANIZING
  • Blog
  • Testimonials/Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Press Releases
  • Resources

7/18/2019

Catching Memories…Capturing Your Tiny Toddlers Tidbits

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Maddie & Emmie Ages 4 and 6
Cassie Age 3
Girls Today
Create A Family Giggle Log  
In 2013, coincidentally, the same year that I started Clean & Clutter Free, Family Fun Magazine published our family’s idea to create what we call a "Family Giggle Log" (August Issue).  It was so mind blowing, and a tad bit unsettling that we could to go to Walmart and find our family’s photo in the latest Family Fun magazine.  

If you have young ones, I want to past this idea along to you. I know these years are busy, but it is during these all too fleeting years, starting around age 2 or 3 that our little charmers say and do things that capture our hearts and make us smile and laugh. I would give anything to live just one day with my children at age 3 again.  Nature’s ingenious way of ensuring that we don’t leave our troublesome, tantrum throwing toddlers on someone else’s doorstep, is that they are adorably sweet and funny all the while messing up a whole house faster than a tornado can roll through it.  It is during these years that our young ones see things with fresh eyes and ears, so innocent and genuine.  They never sugar coat the truth before it comes out of their mouths so what we hear is often interesting and  sometimes embarrassing.  This stage does not last long though, by about age 5 or 6, it starts to dissolve as their more mature intellect begins to develop. 
 
When our girls were young, my husband and I got into the habit of jotting down things that our girls would say that would make us laugh.  We correctly predicted that neither of us would have a keen enough memory to remember every funny or sweet thing they did or said, so we managed to form a habit of getting something down on paper when these moments occurred.  We had a notebook that we called our “Family Giggle Log”.  The entries were messy and short because we did not have a lot of time, but thanks to this little notebook, we captured memories that would have been long forgotten.  Now that our girls are well into their teenage years, they still enjoy our occasional recaps of the past as much as we do.  As predicted, out not only did I forget half the things my girls did when they were young but I can’t even keep straight which one did the things I do remember!  For this reason, I am ever grateful for the memories that we did catch before they slipped through our fingers like sand.   The following are a few of our favorite inserts from our Family Giggle Log hopefully they will make you smile too:  
 
Maddie –
“Mommy what is an earthquake?”  Me – “That is when the earth shakes around for a little while.”
Maddie - “Do you go upside down?”

Dad was at the park with the girls, and Maddie was hanging from the monkey bars...
Dad - "Be careful Maddie"
​Maddie -  “Dad!  You’re bothering my attitude!”

Cassie –
“Mommy, Why do women where bras?”
Me – “Oh just to give some extra support.” (I know this was a lame explanation but I couldn’t think of a better answer at the time).
Cassie - “Is it because bras help make men’s love you more?”
 
Cassie shared a story she wrote at school with  her dad....
Dad – Wow, good job, you really like to learn don’t you? 
Cassie – “Actually, I just like to impress people”.
 
Emily –
"Mommy,  if I throw my booger into the fire will it explode?”
 
“If I put on a whole bunch of clothes, to you think I could live inside the refrigerator?"

And one more from Emily because she was extra inquisitive...
“If everyone in the world blew on my finger at the same time would it fall off?” 
 
I have already managed to copy many of Maddie’s Giggle Log entries into a scrapbook that I created for her when she graduated, and I plan to do the same for the younger two when I get around to making their scrapbooks...hopefully before they graduate.  For me, capturing our young children’s special moments in photos and in written form, through journaling, letters and stories, holds greater power to take our family back to this precious time than other kinds physical keepsakes, so I limit keeping larger keepsakes like art work and projects.  Words and photos take up much less room in our home and I just take photos of the rest.

Having lived through raising my own children, the best advice I can give to young parents is this;  The most special memories made are the ones that they hold in their hearts as the years go by. For us, surprisingly they were not the times that we went to Chuckie Cheeses, instead it was the times that we did seemingly silly things together like having a picnic in the basement on a cold winter day that they seem to remember and cherish the most.  So while it is good to try to capture some your child's memories when you can, ideally through photos, videos and written words, don't get so caught up in taking photos and such, that you miss out on being fully present during those precious moments as they rapidly roll by.



Written By Laura Coufal
Clean & Clutter Free Professional Organizing Services

Share

0 Comments
Details

    Categories

    All
    Antique Dishes
    APPRECIATING OUR BLESSINGS
    Avoiding Family Chaos
    Avoid Organizing Mistakes
    Avoid Wasting Food & Money
    Back To School
    Basements
    Black Friday
    Blessings
    Busy Families
    Buying Foods In Bulk
    Catching Memories
    Change Of Seasons
    Christmas Decorations
    Christmas & Grandparents
    Cleaning Tips
    Closets
    Clutter Build Up
    Clutter Control For Creative People
    Cluttered LIfe
    College Dorm Room Organizing
    Coronavirus
    Craft Room Clutter
    Decluttering
    Dining Room Organizing
    Distractions
    Establish Helpful Routines
    Estate Planning
    Fall Wardrobes
    Family Keepsakes
    Family Members Belongings
    Family Organizing
    FRAMED PHOTOS
    Get Organized
    Gift Buying
    Giftster
    Giggle Log
    Grocery List
    Haiti Mission Trip
    Home Staging
    House Cleaning
    Imperfection Rules
    January Purging
    Just For Laughs
    Keep Pantry Simple
    Keepsakes
    Kids And Keepsakes
    Kids Artwork
    Kids Room Clutter
    Kitchen Organizing
    Lazy Susans
    Less Is More
    Life Simplified
    Living In The Present
    Living Lighter
    Make More Room In Your Pantry
    Memories
    Money Saving Tips
    Moving Tips
    Organized
    Organizing & ADHD
    Organizing Children's Toys
    Other People's Clutter
    Pantry Organization
    Photos
    Physical Therapy
    Practice Doing Less
    Routines
    Scrapbooks
    Senior Downsizing
    Senior Moving Tips
    Serving Others
    Shopping
    Simple Organizing
    Simplify LIfe
    Simplify Your Home
    Slowing Down
    Small Spaces
    Spice Cabinet Organizing
    Spring Cleaning
    Stop Multi-tasking
    Storage Rooms
    Storing Christmas Decor
    Stress Free Organizing
    Stuffed Toys
    Teaching Organizing Skills To Kids
    The Danish Art Of Hygge
    To Do Lists
    Too Many Sets Of Dishes
    Wardrobes
    Weekly Planning Sessions

    RSS Feed



    Archives

    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013

    Laura Coufal

    Laura is the Owner of Clean & Clutter Free, professional organizing services.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • VIRTUAL ORGANIZING
  • Blog
  • Testimonials/Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Press Releases
  • Resources