I Am A Record Keeper

I may not be a very good cook, quilter, writer, speaker, leader, sewer, or businesswoman, but I am an excellent journal keeper, especially for my children! I don't know what it is, but I have this drive, this need, to record significant things in their life. I have a journal for each child and I keep up with it pretty good (so far). I include pictures with what I am talking about. I include quotes they say. I include meaningful papers, drawings, or cards. It does take a lot of time and it is always one of my main ongoing projects. And at first, when Kyle and Jordan were babies, I wondered if all that work and time was worth it. I wondered if they would actually read or look at it. Would they care? I'd ask Mike, and of course he'd compliment my work, but receiving a compliment after you've asked for it, isn't quite as nice. But I kept doing it because of that drive and need to do it. And now, I can't describe the joy I feel when I see them pulling out their journals, just to look and laugh at the pictures I have included. Kyle and Jordan get to see their food storage party - making a complete mess of the flour, noodles, and beans we had stored in their closet. They get to see the poo party they had - yes, you can imagine. They get to review some Christmas pictures. Tanner gets to see the hole in the wall he made in Texas, and the broken window, and the Desitin he rubbed all over his lips and face. They get to see their birthday party pictures and remember how much fun they had. They laugh and talk about the pictures and I am so grateful I have put the work into it.


Right now, they just look at the pictures, but eventually, they will be able to read about things they said and did. We'll always know that Kyle was the one who said, "Sometimes I don't think about the right choice or the wrong choice. Sometimes I just want to be a little wicked." And we will remind Jordan that he said, "Mom, look at this huge strawberry! It is almost as big as dad's nose!" And we won't forget that Tanner exclaimed, after getting tobasco sauce for saying naughty words, "I can blow fire! Put a marshmallow on a stick and I can blow fire on it!" Jordan will be able to see the note he got from the school principal telling Mike and I that Jordan bit a boys finger after the boy flipped him off (which is terrible, I know, but kind of funny too). When Kyle is older, he will probably be embarrassed , or get a laugh out of, that as a five year old, he asked for a teddy bear for Christmas and then named him Fluffy. And of course, we will never forget the progress of Tanner's finger sucking. At first he'd do it with strings. Then, when we took away the strings, he'd do it with Kyle and Jordan's quilt, which he is totally attached to now. I wonder when this finger sucking and blankie attachment will stop. But when it does, I will record it. Because I love it! I love recording the significant things in their life. I love recording my love for them. I love recording my testimony for them. Of all the birthday, Christmas, holiday gifts I give them, I think their own personal journals will probably be the best of all (God willing they don't get destroyed through fire or natural disaster. Oh I sincerely pray that will never happen!).