Every day I have the opportunity to make memories with my children. Somedays with my little family can overwhelm me but then there are moments when I find myself stepping back and seeing a bigger picture.
Every day we are making memories.
It’s amazing to think that the task of creating childhood memories for four people is in my hands each day. Every day as I parent, I get the privilege of helping my children build the memories of their childhood. It is a privilege and a privilege I only have for a short time.
It brings me so much more joy to think about my days with my young kids this way. When I think about making memories for them it gives me a long term purpose for what I am building for them as their mother. When I think of making memories it gives me more joy than to look at an empty space of a day and think of tasks I can create to fill it up.
We make snow day memories, warm day memories, Friday night memories and Saturday morning memories. It is such a privilege to be involved in these moments that my children will one day talk to their children and grandchildren about.
Childhood doesn’t go on forever but the memories do.
I know because my grandmother still talks to me about the memories from her childhood.
When childhood ends, the memories will go on forever.
On Fridays we make movie night memories and pile the blankets and pillows all over the floor, sometimes we have pizza and popcorn on paper towels, sometimes cookies and apple juice.
When daddy is home from work my three sons make “man time” memories of swimming or going out to the park.
Some Saturday mornings we head to the doughnut shop in our pajamas.
“The doughnut shop in your pajamas with your brothers…this is what Saturday morning memories are made of.”
On Sundays after church we make memories to see who can race upstairs the fastest to put on their cozy clothes before lunch.
In the spring we make memories in the sand at the beach and in the summertime we make memories at my grandparent’s house on Lake George.
My favorite memories are the simple ones we make every morning when all my children pile up in my bed before we have to get moving for school. I sip my coffee and while they are all still little enough they all snuggle up close. I know these days will be over soon but what a privilege it is to make the memories while we can.
“My heart is full every morning to see my family wall snuggled up like this.”
I find so much more joy in my days with my children when I see the opportunity to make memories.
This day is the day we have to build the memories of childhood.
What a privilege we have as parents to help build the memories that will go on forever.
Rachel Craddock 
Scott and I also began doing this intentionally years ago with our original four. It’s so easy to lose our focus now with so many who have such overwhelming medical needs. This post was a good reminder to me to make sure I don’t let that happen. This intentional memory-making mindset helps us keep our perspective in the middle of a sometimes very daunting life. It’s all about bigger things than whatever seemingly life-eclipsing situation we find ourselves in the middle of on any given day.
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What a wonderful reminder! Years ago I was given this excellent advice as we waited for my husband to graduate and move on to our next step in life. When I asked a friend how they had made it through to the graduation finish line, she reminded me that this would be my children’s childhood – make the most of it while I could. What blessed wisdom! I repented of trying to hurry my days along and began to make memories. My older children, now 26, 24, and 20, still remember late night slumber parties when Daddy had to study late and running around the campus’s underground tunnels in their pj’s waiting for Daddy’s night class to finish. I have been so grateful for that advice. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with a new generation – and reminding an older one not to forget!
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