Memories

Christmas of 2003 I was given a journal. Never one to find much of interest in my life to write about I decided to fill the book with those incredibly cute sayings that my children come up with that I swear I'll never forget (but do).

In fact just this morning after I found the journal and dusted it off one of the half dozen children wrestling on the bed something incredibly hilarious. In the time it took me to find a pen...poof!...it was gone from my mind. (It did remind me to ask one of the older girls to run and grab my ADHD medication lest I lose another such gem to the vagaries of my mind. So all is not lost.)

At any rate I was commenting at breakfast that I can tell when I received the journal despite the dates because the majority of it is filled with things that Emma or Timothy said and I can tell that the richest treasure trove of memorable comments seem to come from age three to age eight. I can tell when we got animals--because for all practical purposes I stopped recording these things about then. I guess it got swallowed up in the day to day business. (and I thought I was busy with eight children in the city!)

We had a very enjoyable time this morning, me sitting in bed sipping hot tea (waiting for coffee beans to come home with Tim) reading from the book. "Read one about me now, Mom!" It proved to be a powerful encouragement for them to do chores because I was able to say "run and put your shoes on, then I'll read". It made me seriously regret those years that I failed to record. Thankfully the children remember a fair number of them (even some I was not privy to!) and I think we will start a new tradition of writing a few every evening after dinner. After all these are their memories too, aren't they?