Sharing My Childhood with My Children

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Memories

About six months after my husband and I got married, I received a very special present from my mother — several boxes of childhood memorabilia she was anxious to see leave her house. Perplexed with where I was going to fit three more boxes of stuff, I hid them in the hall closet to gather a little more dust. It wasn’t until I was in the nesting phase of my second pregnancy that I decided to go through these boxes. There was some paring down, reorganizing, and new plans made to finally finish that scrapbook (ha!).

And then, I found the golden nugget: a science notebook from a third grade project. I was so, so proud of this particular project (after all, I made an A+). I immediately knew I had to share it with my animal-loving daughter. I cannot count the number of times we have flipped through this notebook together, her giggling at the gorilla holding a kitten and trying to grasp the difference between a lobster and a crab. This notebook is not in as pristine condition it was a year and a half ago when I stumbled upon it, but the new memories it has helped create are well worth the wear and tear.

IMG_0326More recently, a dear friend passed on two “books” we authored together in the third grade. And, once again, I was able to share them with our daughter, who insisted on reading them over and over and over in a single sitting. Besides cringing on my inability to spell in the third grade (you know, before the red squiggly line became an everyday staple in our lives), it was fun to share a piece of my childhood with her. These books are more fragile than my science notebook, so they will be put away for special times together instead of becoming a staple in our everyday lives. However, it inspired me to start creating memories with my book-loving daughter based on the creative stories she comes up with daily.

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Now that we are in the digital age, we aren’t confined to paper or to our own handwriting and illustrating skills (can I get an AMEN?!).

  • My Storybook is an extremely affordable option that allows you publish your story online for free or create a high quality printable e-book version for $5.
  • May Designs is a Texas based company that sells the cutest customizable photo books. You have to use a little imagination to transform these books into a story, and you will mostly have to rely on photographs instead of illustrations. But, the books are the perfect size, and the covers are nearly indestructible.
  • Crayola Story by Me lets you turn your drawings and story into a hardcover book. As children get a little older, this is probably the most fun option. But, you do have to rely on your own illustrating skills — a skill set I was not blessed with.

For our first book together, we are going to use May Designs. I just can’t get over how cute and durable the covers are. And, I’ve used them before to create one very special cookbook, so I know the outcome is nothing short of amazing.

How have you shared your childhood with your children? And how are you helping them create tangible memories of their own?

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Rachel
Rachel loves a good fairytale, so it’s no surprise that, after moving to Fort Worth from Washington, D.C., she kissed a frog and fell in love. She is the mother of two perfect children—Lillian, an adventurous toddler, and Lucas, a handsome cuddle-bug who is speeding through infant-hood too fast. She loves pearls, books, coffee, talking about books over coffee, writing, listening to others’ life stories, and spending time with her family. When she is not busy practicing law or changing diapers, you will find her exploring the amazing culinary and cultural delights that Fort Worth has to offer or blogging at Honeycomb and Pearls.

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