Free Parenting Tips: Activities Designed to Preserve Memories

Well, I blinked again and now I have a very busy one-year-old and a five-year-old who can’t start kindergarten soon enough. Where does the time go? So is there a way to freeze time? Determined not to let them grow up too fast, I set out on a mission to find activities that, for a brief second, seem to make time stand still. I thought I would share some free tips of freezing time to those of you who look at your children and wonder where the time went.

• Journal-As a girl growing up, I always heard that keeping a diary was a necessity. I never did. Now sometimes I wish I did. I have an aunt that keeps a journal for her child. She fills it with letters to her son each night telling him how proud she is of such and such accomplishment for the day. What a way to create memories. Not only does it record each monumental event in her child’s life (as well as some that I am sure he will never care to remember), it gives her a way to reflect on the day, freeze it so to speak. Can you imagine the joy she and her son will have when she shares it with him?
  
  
• Enjoy family dinner at the table with no distractions-We play “high and low" made famous by the movie Story of Us with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfieffer. Each family member has to tell the best part of his or her day or the “high" and the worst part or the “low." It has been amazing, and rather funny at times, to hear a preschooler recount his day’s traumas and victories. Now it is also hilarious to hear him make up his sister’s, since she can’t talk yet.
  
  
• Plan dates with your kids-We plan dates with our spouses. Why not our kids? I took my son to Madagascar at the theater this year. He still talks about it. It makes the child feel special that you took the time to do something for him and just spend time with him. Every now and then my son will say, “Mommy, remember when you took me to the movies, I wish we had money to do that again." Then if he is really trying to turn the knife of guilt, he adds "I like spending time with you. You never spend time with me anymore."
  
  
• Schedule impromptu tickle time complete with zrbrts-My most favorite. For those who do not know what a zrbrt is, it is when you put your mouth on your child’s body and blow making a funny sound and tickling them at the same time. These can also be called raspberries or whatever you like, kids can’t help but to laugh. I can’t explain the joy I get watching my little one-year-old push her way through the rolling on the floor only to position herself right next to her brother and raise her shirt to signal to mommy and daddy that she wants in on the tickling and zrbrts. I laugh out loud just thinking about it. Kids love the attention!
  
  
• Scrabooking-What better way to freeze time than with photos. Plus you can include your child’s artwork as backdrops.
  
  
• Memory quilts-If you are crafty, talented, etc., use your pieces from your child’s baby clothes or blankets to incorporate into the piece. Also with technology advances, you can now have photos put on quilt pieces.
  
  
• Go on vacation in your own house-Turn off the phone. Tell friends you are going out of town and then set up camp in your living room. Play board games, cook together, eat together and play together.
  
  
• Sneak in and snuggle with them at night-There is nothing more enjoyable then just holding your child while they sleep. It is the one time during the day when time truly seems to stand still.

The important thing is just to spend time with your children, making them feel important and enjoying every moment. I hope these hints will allow you to take a moment to enjoy time with your kids before you blink and they are starting their own family. For instance, my one-year-old is pushing me away from the computer as we speak, throwing a bottle of bubbles at me. I think I can get the hint.