7 Meaningful Ways to Preserve Childhood Memories:
A Mom's How-To Guide
My name is Brigette, and I’m a J.L. Childress Team Member. I’m writing this blog from a real mom-to-mom/parent perspective as it’s an emotional topic and a journey I'm currently navigating.
Personally, I didn’t think motherhood was a journey I would explore in this lifetime. However, there was a greater plan for my life and two years ago I was blessed with an unexpected pregnancy with my son.
I luckily had an easy pregnancy and while there were plenty of sleepless nights, for the most part he was a great infant. I would be told the common phrase from other moms “They grow in the blink of an eye” and I’d give a friendly nod then kind of brush it off.
As two years have passed, I now get it. Where does the time go? My baby has grown into a mini-human, independent at daycare and giving two-year-old attitude (that is so cute but dang is he stubborn.)
Now I’m that mom telling her expecting friends this same advice while wholeheartedly understanding and meaning it.
As moms, we're constantly told that childhood goes by fast and to savor every minute. I love creating memories and accomplishing new milestones with my son, but I’m guilty of being the parent that lives more in the moment taking pictures and videos that sit in my camera roll.
As we’re entering a new season, I have reflected on my journey through motherhood and am embracing a new approach of preserving our memories by documenting childhood moments and creating keepsakes that help our family remember the everyday magic of growing up.
J.L. Childress is a woman-owned, full-of-moms company and I enlisted the advice of my peers with kids of all ages on ways they’ve preserved family memories throughout the years.
Whether you're a new parent documenting your baby's first year or a seasoned parent trying to organize thousands of family photos, here are some meaningful memory-keeping ideas that you'll treasure for years to come.
1. Create Annual Family Photo Books
A Co-Owner of J.L. Childress, Sarah has two kids, a boy (11) and a girl (9), and has found one of the best ways to preserve family memories is by turning digital photos into physical photo books.
Moms have thousands of photos on their phones. The problem is that most of them never get seen again.
Every year, she now creates a family photo book featuring:
- Vacations
- Birthday celebrations
- School milestones
- Holiday traditions
Services like Chatbooks and Shutterfly make it incredibly easy to create customized family photo albums directly from your phone. Years later, these books become treasured keepsakes that your children will love flipping through.
Pro Mom Tip: Throughout the year, ‘Favorite’ the best photos from major milestones or everyday joys. Sarah likes doing this at the end of the day as she’s winding down. This little act makes it SO much easier to select the photos for your annual photo book so it’s something you can totally accomplish.
2. Document Baby's First Year(s) with a Memory Book
If you're a new parent, one of the best gifts you can give yourself is a baby memory book. Rochelle is a mom of two kids, a boy (14) and a girl (16) and embraced the traditional first year baby book for her kids.
The first year passes in a blur of milestones:
- First words
- First holidays
- First family vacations
- First birthday celebrations
A baby book like one from Love + Wild creates a permanent record of those precious moments that you can sit down and flip page by page knowing your mom created this memento for you to enjoy together.
Don’t have all the time in the world? One Line a Day book is a perfect way to record daily, one-line memories from your first five years with your little one. Simply jot down a daily memory to later reminisce over the big and little moments of your child’s first years.
3. Use a Digital Picture Frame to Enjoy Family Photos Every Day
One of my personal favorite parenting memory makers has been a digital picture frame. I have a son (2) and was gifted with a digital picture frame at my baby shower, and I am obsessed!
Instead of letting family photos sit forgotten on my phone, our favorite memories rotate throughout the day in our living room.
Revolving snapshots of cherished moments takes me back to that moment in time and always makes me smile. I have lots of pictures of:
- Family vacations
- School events
- Holiday gatherings
- Everyday adventures
Digital picture frames are also an amazing gift for grandparents near or far! Check out Aura Frames and get your family all synced up.
4. Create a Family Scrapbook
Kate, Co-Owner of J.L. Childress, has made many scrapbooks with her two kids, a boy (13) and a girl (11) capturing their family travels as they’ve grown.
Whether it’s your first airplane ride with kids, a national park adventure, or a simple weekend getaway, those experiences shape your family story and deserve to be documented.
Save:
- Boarding passes
- Kids drawings
- Collect seashells or flowers
- Stickers
- Postcards
- Roadmaps
As the years pass, these keepsakes age within their bindings and tell the story of your family's adventures together. Scrapbooks full of not just photos but also travel mementos truly bring your family’s adventures to life.
5. Start a Family Journal
With three daughters (19, 11, & 10), Linda created a tradition with her family of starting a collaborative family journal, and you can too!
Write down:
- Recipes you’ve created, generational recipes or your kids’ favorite meals
- Funny things the kids said
- Favorite memories on a trip
- New places you explored
Family journals preserve memories that photos alone often can't capture that will be passed down from generation to generation. Check out solutions like Papier that has adorable books to choose from.
6. Create a Memory Box for Each Child
Genny, mother of three kids, a girl (28) and two boys (25 & 20) loved creating individual memory boxes throughout her kids’ childhoods because it was a simple way to save tangible items.
Inside each box, save:
- School artwork
- Travel souvenirs
- Awards and certificates
- Handwritten notes
- Birthday cards
It doesn't need to be fancy you can recycle a shoebox (I have!) and you don't need to keep everything—just the items that tell your child's story.
Pro Mom Tip: Make your kids feel individually special by creating their own boxes rather than a collective box. This makes it more personal and helps keep keepsakes in one place so they can take them wherever they go as they grow.
7. Create Annual Family Highlight Videos
All of us moms at J.L. Childress agree that creating an annual family video captures moments in a way photos simply can't. Whether we’ve been able to make this memory-capturing idea a reality or not, it’s one we all wish we could and is worth the investment.
Each year, bring your family together to record one moment in time or compile videos throughout the year and save them digitally so that you can watch for years to come. This also helps you remember loved ones that may have left this earth and depicts the priceless times spent together.
User-friendly apps available on phones like iMovie for iPhone or Google Photos for Android help you combine year-round videos into one.
How Do You Preserve Family Memories Without Feeling Overwhelmed?
This is the question many moms ask. The answer isn't to do everything… it’s to choose one or two memory-keeping methods that excite you and are easy to maintain. Make it simple and enjoyable on yourself by taking inspiration from these ideas and tailor them to what works for YOU and your family.
The Best Time to Start Preserving Family Memories Is Today
Life moves at a fast pace and as parents, we're living through moments we'll someday wish we could revisit.
Take the photo.
Print the photo book.
Save the ticket stub.
Record the voice memo.
Write down the funny story.
Because years from now, those small pieces of childhood will help you remember what mattered most: the life you created together.