Today is a snow day. With all 5 kids and both parents home, you’d think that my house would be chaotic, but – incredibly – it’s fairly tame.
Now, don’t ask me if my house is CLEAN. Tame, we can handle. Clean? Not so much.
And how often does the cleanliness of the house factor into the quality of the memories you make together?
Honestly, you don’t have to have a clean house or go on fancy trips to create meaningful, lasting memories with your kids. Those memories you create together will go a long way towards creating family unity…and that’s way more important than a clean house, right? Here are a few tips for turning everyday, ordinary moments into wonderful family memories.
5 tips for making lasting family memories out of everyday moments
- Power down – and put the cell phone and the tablet away. Turn off the TV. Focus on each other and simply chat. Something as ordinary as making dinner together can become a treasured memory for a child (and mom or dad, too!). Most of all? As you power down your devices, make sure that you power UP your ears. Listen.
- Do what you’re already doing – turn the tasks that you’re already doing, like grocery shopping, folding laundry, making dinner, and turn it into together time. WHAT you’re doing doesn’t matter as much as simply dedicating the time to do SOMETHING. Find out what you love to do together and do more of those things (ok, that might eliminate the grocery shopping and laundry folding suggestion…). Every once in a while, through in something totally out of the ordinary and create some unique memories.
- One-on-one time – There’s something special about having one-on-one time with mom or dad, and heaven knows that’s hard to come by in a big family. While I do love doing things as a family, there’s something to be said for dedicated attention from a parent.
- Record it – OK, here’s where I like to break rule #1. When I am making memories with my kids, I always like to pull out my camera or turn the video camera on and record the memories we’re creating. I am a visual person, and seeing the pictures and watching the videos that we make together solidifies those memories for me.
- Relive it – Talk about the memories you’ve made. Look through the photos you’ve captured together (print a few and hang them on the fridge!). Watch the videos you create together. By reliving the memories you make together, you not only keep them alive but you are actually creating more memories together in the process.
Some of the things that we love doing together:
- playing games as a family
- observing traditions (especially surrounding special events like birthdays)
- going out on mommy-daughter or mommy-son dates
- reading out loud together
- baking
- crafts and other projects
- watching home movies
- playing on the iPad
- competing at Just Dance on the Wii
- taking Sunday walks
- watching and discussing TV series
- shopping together (one-on-one)
- texting each other
- brushing and braiding hair (even my 7 year old son loves braiding hair!)
- painting nails
- crocheting
How do you turn everyday moments into lasting memories?
PS – In re-reading the beginning of this post, I’m beginning to wonder if I have a little issue with keeping my house clean…
Note: I am a YesVideo Ambassador and receive compensation for my time, but all opinions expressed within this post are my own. Like I’ve said many times before, I highly recommend using YesVideo to transfer your video memories onto long-lasting digital format. All opinions remain my own.
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I love that! Although in our house, we’d probably have a dirty sock fight. ;)
Wonderful article to help us remember what is important. I especially like the RE-LIVE IT. A fun moment for us was on laundry day when we spontaneously had a sock “fight”. (Clean socks :o) It was such a great laughable time and the warm memories are ours for keeps forever.
Little things like making cupcakes is now a Mommy-Son kinda thing. It’s our memory making time that nobody else can jump into. Similarly washing Hub’s car. Its a Dad and Kids chore that ends up in water fights ;)