Turn Around

Our Grandson Ewan Theodore turned two on Sunday. He’s learned a lot in that short time, the love of his Mom and Dad at the top of that list. That he can count on them to feed him when he’s hungry, comfort him when he’s hurting and provide everything that he needs. That’s probably the most important lesson we learn as children and we can count ourselves lucky if we have two parents who provide that stability. The importance of family is set by good example. The bedtime story, the good-morning wake-up…these are the things that your children carry with them into adulthood. It’s the little things that count.

We always read to Ewan’s mommy at bedtime. She loved her storybooks and could read at an early age. Books were an important part of her childhood. It’s not the expensive toys they will remember, but the quiet times and special touches that linger in our children’s memories. Let them know how special they are to you every day.

Make memories that become tradition in your family…

Have a pizza night (or their favorite meal).

Take the phone off the hook and work on a jigsaw puzzle or play Monopoly.

Tuck a loving or encouraging note inside a lunch bag.

Buttered toast, hot soup and ginger ale, served in bed when they are sick.

Breakfast in bed for a special day.

Picnics by the fireplace on a cold evening.

Picnics in the backyard or neighborhood park.

Plant and tending a vegetable garden together.
Take walks and bike rides together.

Celebrate half-birthdays.

Make cookies with them.

Make photo ornaments every Christmas.

And then keep going...

For memory’s sake make note of each school year, all the special occasions and pretty ordinary times too, getting grandparents, relatives, friends and neighbors in the act as well. Write an annual birthday letter detailing the ups and downs, laughable moments, special occasions, turning points, memorable conversations, saving them in a memory box with other mementos. Every year start a new box and fill it with drawings, writings, notebooks and of course pictures. By graduation you and your child will have stacks of memories waiting for you!

Get into scrap-booking, pasting in photos, corsages, greeting cards, even a lock or two of hair, thus offering a special stroll down memory lane in later years. Keep snapping away, collecting photos of yourself and your family, relatives and friends through the years so that you’ll have a record of your lives to treasure—and work on the scrapbook together.

Grab a tape recorder or video camera and make a “living” record of your days together, including interviews with grandparents and great-grandparents, and other family members.

This way, your children will never have to wonder what they were like when little or how you spent your days together. Like a time capsule, your family’s memories will be right there at their fingertips!

Nana and Papa love you very much Ewan!