Guest Blog: Taking Notes

Today's Guest Blog is from Karen!

Although my children are now 18 and 21, I wanted to share one thing I enjoyed doing when they were young that made wonderful memories for our whole family.

When both of my children were just beginning to talk, I would jot down a quick note of what new "cute thing" they said during the week. It might just be a word or a phrase that would remind me of the incident. After I had several "memory joggers" written down, I would take l5 minutes or a half hour while they were napping or playing, and expound upon the topic in a journal every few weeks.  One page turned into another, and eventually I had a fairly thick record of their childhood mispronunciations, unique way of looking at the world, and experiences we had had as a family.

We all think we'll never forget what our child did when his baby sister was born, or what she said when she lost her first tooth, but we do forget.  As the children entered the teen years the entries were fewer and farther between.  It was then that we would sit down periodically and read random entries out loud. Each of the kids enjoyed hearing about their antics growing up, and even now occasionally refer to "time my brother said..." or "remember when..." 

While baby books are nice to record how tall a child is growing, we've found it much more satisfying to record the emotional, social and spiritual development that occurs day by day in a family.  These notebooks have become some of my most treasured possessions, and a tangible expression of my love for my children.  It's also "proof positive" to teenagers of the time and effort you put into raising them each day and how much you value them as individuals, both then and now.  Try it...it's one way not to lose your memory as you grow older!!

My name is Karen Eberts. I have been married to "Dan the Blood Man" of Florida Blood Services for almost 24 years, and we have two children. Kristen is 2l, and Tim is l8.  We attend St. Matthew Catholic Church in Largo.  My favorite Scripture has changed over the years, but currently is Romans 8:28:  "God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

If you'd like to submit a guest blog, email me, abby@spiritfm905.com. Keep it under 500 words please!