Some good ideas for recording memories. They're specifically talking about memories of your kids, but they're good ideas for recording memories of any type.
I do occasional video interviews, record random moments on video, haven't been able to scrapbook for years now, but would love to have the time to do it again! I have journals & baby books for the kids, plus this blog and tons of photos. I would soooo do a holiday letter, that sort of thing seems fun to me, although everyone makes fun of the idea.
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Friday, October 01, 2010
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Tech Savy kids
I ran into an interesting example of how my kids are affected by growing up with technology that didn't exist when I was a kid. Leanna was looking for the Grease Megamix song to play (we use an online playlist for songs) and couldn't find it. I was busy loading the dishwasher and couldn't come right away to help her find it. She got impatient and figured out how to find it anyway. She typed "megamixs greas" and ended up on youtube with a megamix video. Pretty cool, but a little bit scary. She could easily end up on a very bad site while searching for something completely innocent. But I was impressed because I've never showed her how to do a search like that.
We didn't have a home computer until I was in 11th grade. We bought one from my Aunt and Uncle who had a business selling them. My uncle had a computer in his house way before anyone I'd ever known. Had to be early to mid eighties. (Livingston st.)
We set it up on the third floor. I remember them showing us how to use the computer mouse. It felt really strange the first time I tried it, it was jumping all over the place and I had to learn how to control it. My Uncle was impatient with us, he'd been using them for a long time already by then. We played card games on it and used it for typing letters and school essays. In high school we had a computer lab we'd occasionally visit with Macintosh apple computers. In my senior year I took a course called computer skills. It was frightfully easy. Much of it is useless now, we did stuff like learning the F1, F2,etc. keys. There were no computer mouses in our lab. I think the earliest time I used a computer in school was in 5th grade, some computers visited our school for two weeks. We got to visit them once or twice. In middle school I remember doing stuff in DOS in an upstairs computer lab. My kids will read that one day and have no idea what I'm talking about. Everything printed out on that paper with the holes on both edges that you had to rip off. My kids will have such a different experience in that respect.
I've purposely not let the kids do a lot with the computer. I know a lot of people make a big deal out of teaching them as early as possible, but I figure I'd rather they play and use their imaginations more while they're young. It's not like it's all that difficult to learn, they'll catch up easily, especially since they watch me doing it all the time. Leanna's had the most computer use, she's the oldest and I hadn't really formulated my theory yet before she started using it. But even then I tried to limit the time she was on it. I think research backs me up too-it shows that after using the computer for reading on a regular basis you tend to have more difficulty reading regular books, your attention span is shortened. I know I can personally attest to that. A child spending a lot of regular time on the computer in the world of instant clicking and jumping from site to site, refreshing the page, etc. etc., well, that has to affect how you learn to think. Leanna's computer use has skyrocketed since she got into webkinz (one of the reasons I didn't jump on that bandwagon immediately), but I've been using it as a reward lately. Generally she only does it on a Friday night when I go out with my sister. And lately some of that time is spend with Justin and/or Timothy playing games. I can live with that. It's just weird to think about how much has changed in such a short period of time.
We didn't have a home computer until I was in 11th grade. We bought one from my Aunt and Uncle who had a business selling them. My uncle had a computer in his house way before anyone I'd ever known. Had to be early to mid eighties. (Livingston st.)
We set it up on the third floor. I remember them showing us how to use the computer mouse. It felt really strange the first time I tried it, it was jumping all over the place and I had to learn how to control it. My Uncle was impatient with us, he'd been using them for a long time already by then. We played card games on it and used it for typing letters and school essays. In high school we had a computer lab we'd occasionally visit with Macintosh apple computers. In my senior year I took a course called computer skills. It was frightfully easy. Much of it is useless now, we did stuff like learning the F1, F2,etc. keys. There were no computer mouses in our lab. I think the earliest time I used a computer in school was in 5th grade, some computers visited our school for two weeks. We got to visit them once or twice. In middle school I remember doing stuff in DOS in an upstairs computer lab. My kids will read that one day and have no idea what I'm talking about. Everything printed out on that paper with the holes on both edges that you had to rip off. My kids will have such a different experience in that respect.
I've purposely not let the kids do a lot with the computer. I know a lot of people make a big deal out of teaching them as early as possible, but I figure I'd rather they play and use their imaginations more while they're young. It's not like it's all that difficult to learn, they'll catch up easily, especially since they watch me doing it all the time. Leanna's had the most computer use, she's the oldest and I hadn't really formulated my theory yet before she started using it. But even then I tried to limit the time she was on it. I think research backs me up too-it shows that after using the computer for reading on a regular basis you tend to have more difficulty reading regular books, your attention span is shortened. I know I can personally attest to that. A child spending a lot of regular time on the computer in the world of instant clicking and jumping from site to site, refreshing the page, etc. etc., well, that has to affect how you learn to think. Leanna's computer use has skyrocketed since she got into webkinz (one of the reasons I didn't jump on that bandwagon immediately), but I've been using it as a reward lately. Generally she only does it on a Friday night when I go out with my sister. And lately some of that time is spend with Justin and/or Timothy playing games. I can live with that. It's just weird to think about how much has changed in such a short period of time.
Monday, October 06, 2008
More ways Tom's work stuff becomes toys here....
I've posted before about how my children's childhood memories will be full of using Tom's work supplies as toys. We always have stuff lying around. Here are two examples. Leanna fashioined a hammock for her little dolls out of paintcans and a piece of her hamper. And Jacob using a spackle bucket as a climbing toy on the porch, though we have at least 3 or 4 of them in the house also!
A sidenote: Laura, remember that outfit Jacob's wearing?? It seems like you just bought that for Justin for Christmas and now my 3rd little boy is wearing it!! It's kind of neat to take out clothes and have all these nice memories associated with them. I ran accross one blog where the mom uses almost completely second hand stuff from friends and relatives that when her daughter asked for the backstory on a new item, she was dissapointed to find out it was something new. So she made up her own story about someone using it before her. There is something to be said for having a history to your stuff.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Curious-what are your earliest memories?
Ok, so I followed various links to an Anti-Gosselin site(Jon and Kate Plus Eight). I take it all with a grain of salt, a large one, knowing people's capacity for stretching the truth and outright lying to justify their positions. Generally I ignore that stuff as I find it has ruined my own viewing of the show a bit-I see things through the eyes of the detractors as well. But I've come to the opinion that they are a family trying to do their best to deal with all that's come their way, not just the two sets of multiples, but all the negatives of having a tv show and fame as well. It's ruined some family relationships, but that happens when you aren't on tv as well. They aren't perfect people and neither am I. Kate, the Mom, is apparently hard to get along with, but she has a lot of good qualities as well. I admire her organizational skills and her dedication to finding enriching activites and trips for her children. I think she's great at establishing traditions. And I love their family's attitude that they are in this together-they are a team.
This site claims to be neutral, but it's almost entirely negative stuff. On the post I have linked however, regarding all the traveling the family does, they pose the question: How much/what do you remember from when you were 2 years old or 3 years old or 4 years old??? Are the Gosselins truly "making memories"? For whom?
There are a surprising number of positive comments on that one, and I have to agree. I remember stuff from when I was at least two, possibly younger. Mostly just little flashes of stuff, fuller memories emerge about when I was four. I think that it is our job as parents to try to provide our children with as many happy memories as we are able (not saying we need to kill ourselves or our budget to do this, just to do as much as we can). There's no way they will remember everything, you can't pick and choose what they will remember, but if you fill them with happy family events, they're more likely to remember some of them. I don't think it's a bad thing for the parents to do it so they have happy family memories either. You put a lot of work into this parenting job, I think parents deserve to take happiness from the job also! Young kids' memories will be enhanced in the case of the Gosselins by looking at photo and having it all captured on video. That could jog their memories or help form them more strongly. I also think that sometimes the good that comes from a family outing may not be the memory you take away from it-I think there is plenty of short-term good that can come from it as well. A change of pace, seeing new things, experiencing new things-all that is fun and can positively affect their growing personalities.
Anyone care to comment on early memories?
Some of my random snippets:
*I remember pretending to be asleep and my Dad knowing I was pretending so he tickled me "awake."
*I remember going to the doctor when I cut my head open. I remember various scenes from that experience, particularly that I got to pick two cookies from a room with white cabinets for being such a good girl. I was very proud.
*I remember sitting on my Mom's lap in a rocking chair in a dark third floor room of our apartment when I had hives. I felt miserable.
*I remember being locked out of our apartment when we went to the store on my birthday. They had to call the police and they came and stuck a huge knife in the door to break it open.
* I remember going to the playground with my Mom and Aunt and cousins, and lots of scenes of playing at her house. I remember taking baths with my cousins there. She had bubble bath and lots of toys.
*I remember being in the car for many trips to my Aunts' houses. I got to get an orange soda, my favorite at the time.
*I remember playing tweetle-bugs with a neighbor boy at my Aunt's house when I was about four. We took a bus to my aunt's house and got there at night. The restaurant was closed, but they opened the doors to let us wait for my aunt and uncle to pick us up. We sat in the back of the station wagon and me and my cousin Betsy pretended that each little bump sent us flying. "Ouch! I hurt my boompter!" we giggled hysterically. I played with a barbie with yellow shoes on the bus, and lost one shoe at my aunt's house later. The bathroom had wooden shutters.
This site claims to be neutral, but it's almost entirely negative stuff. On the post I have linked however, regarding all the traveling the family does, they pose the question: How much/what do you remember from when you were 2 years old or 3 years old or 4 years old??? Are the Gosselins truly "making memories"? For whom?
There are a surprising number of positive comments on that one, and I have to agree. I remember stuff from when I was at least two, possibly younger. Mostly just little flashes of stuff, fuller memories emerge about when I was four. I think that it is our job as parents to try to provide our children with as many happy memories as we are able (not saying we need to kill ourselves or our budget to do this, just to do as much as we can). There's no way they will remember everything, you can't pick and choose what they will remember, but if you fill them with happy family events, they're more likely to remember some of them. I don't think it's a bad thing for the parents to do it so they have happy family memories either. You put a lot of work into this parenting job, I think parents deserve to take happiness from the job also! Young kids' memories will be enhanced in the case of the Gosselins by looking at photo and having it all captured on video. That could jog their memories or help form them more strongly. I also think that sometimes the good that comes from a family outing may not be the memory you take away from it-I think there is plenty of short-term good that can come from it as well. A change of pace, seeing new things, experiencing new things-all that is fun and can positively affect their growing personalities.
Anyone care to comment on early memories?
Some of my random snippets:
*I remember pretending to be asleep and my Dad knowing I was pretending so he tickled me "awake."
*I remember going to the doctor when I cut my head open. I remember various scenes from that experience, particularly that I got to pick two cookies from a room with white cabinets for being such a good girl. I was very proud.
*I remember sitting on my Mom's lap in a rocking chair in a dark third floor room of our apartment when I had hives. I felt miserable.
*I remember being locked out of our apartment when we went to the store on my birthday. They had to call the police and they came and stuck a huge knife in the door to break it open.
* I remember going to the playground with my Mom and Aunt and cousins, and lots of scenes of playing at her house. I remember taking baths with my cousins there. She had bubble bath and lots of toys.
*I remember being in the car for many trips to my Aunts' houses. I got to get an orange soda, my favorite at the time.
*I remember playing tweetle-bugs with a neighbor boy at my Aunt's house when I was about four. We took a bus to my aunt's house and got there at night. The restaurant was closed, but they opened the doors to let us wait for my aunt and uncle to pick us up. We sat in the back of the station wagon and me and my cousin Betsy pretended that each little bump sent us flying. "Ouch! I hurt my boompter!" we giggled hysterically. I played with a barbie with yellow shoes on the bus, and lost one shoe at my aunt's house later. The bathroom had wooden shutters.
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