Kids Say (and do) the Darndest Things - October 2009

Jude just hauled the giant copy of "What to Expect the Toddler Years" downstairs & presented it to me. Is he warning me about something?

This was one of my Tweets/Facebook status updates a couple of days ago.
When Jude was younger, he did lots of cute and amazing things. Now that he’s more mobile and communicative, he does and says some really funny things. I love it and I never want to forget these moments. I know I will forget though, unless I make the effort to record the memories. I also want lots of great stories to share with the boy’s girlfriends in a few years!

I struggled for a while with recording though - it seemed to never happen! I always intended to write it down, but the moment would pass and I would forget.
Then I got into Facebook and then Twitter. I loved being able to share these family moments with my friends and family. The cute, funny, scary and outrageous things that my kids do.

I was actually trying to remember a particular situation and couldn’t recall the details, but I remembered that I “Tweeted” it. So I was looking back through the Tweets and found what I was looking for. In the process, I realized that I had an amazing record of many of our precious family moments.

I decided then, that I would go back to when I began on Facebook in September of 2007and embark on the tedious task of cutting and pasting all those status updates into a Word document. It took a bit of time, but I eventually got it done. I called the document “Family Moments” and I keep it handy on my computer these days. About once a week I go and copy all my status updates into this document. I sometimes add other things that don’t go on Facebook or I’ll expand on something that I briefly updated on Facebook.

I also love to see the updates of my friends and family around the world. I laugh, empathize and sympathize. It’s also great to read the comments on my own updates. I feel like I am sharing this journey with other Moms and families. And it’s not just the cute and funny moments, it’s the struggles and the fears. Having children is an overwhelming thing and it’s so good to know that we aren’t alone in our doubts, our frustrations and fears.

Whether you Tweet, blog, Facebook, keep a journal or scribble those family moments on scraps of paper - keep it up. Tell those cute stories to friends and family, tell them to me, I love to hear family stories, mom stories, kid stories! The moments pass quickly and will be forgotten if we don’t record them. If we record them, we can share them for years to come.

If you aren’t recording your family moments or sharing your family moments, I would encourage you to do so. Figure out what works best for you and just do it! You won’t ever regret it.

I leave you with this gem that I Tweeted in May of this year: “Jude just came over to me and stood there - I asked what he wanted and he said “hugs” - happy me!