Making Memories

Today we've been drinking those flavour milk straws with our milk. Miss 7 is happily drinking hers and suddenly starts to blow bubbles. Normally I would growl and tell her to use her manners while at the table but today a little voice told me to stop and join in. So I did!! Well it brought back memories and seeing the look on Miss 7's face was just the best!!
I think as parents we are very quick to bring our children into line or to train them into being young adults that we soon forget that they are just children who need the chance to make fun memories with their parents.
What better way to show your love for your kids than to give them your time. It’s a tangible expression of how worth it they are in your eyes. It creates in them a sense of self worth and confidence.
When your children leave home the most important thing they will take with them is their memories. And while they are still there the memories will give your child, even teenagers, a strong sense of family commitment, and a desire to actually be home because they enjoy it. Strong families are built on a foundation of love, and love, as you probably know, doesn’t simply happen. Love takes work — especially when the details of the day-to-day grind seem to crowd out everything else and leave you short on time and short of energy.
Making memories is one way to create a lasting sense of common identity and shared love among everyone in your home. Good memories are wonderful to have. Doing things as a family, or even one on one with each child is a great way to make some memories. When you make memories with your children, you are building a life-time of family fun. The good memories they carry into adulthood will help them have good relationships with their own children in the future. Traditions they have as they are growing up may be carried on and enjoyed, even in years to come.

Here are some of my favourite ways to spend time making memories:

You should spend quality time with your children in order to make memories. Arrange a special family night every week and involve the whole family to take part in a fun activity. You can go camping, make dinner with family, share jokes, play board games or other activity games and even involve the whole family for craft projects.

Take your child out for dinner at least once or twice a month. Express how much you love your child and give him a gift or a card. You can take them out in a place your child loves.

Take photos on every special moment you are with your child. After gathering many pictures, get a scrapbook or photo journal and organize photos in it. Do this in monthly basis and when you are organizing photos with your children, you can remind them of the incidents which happened on that day.

When your kid goes on a vacation or on camping then you can write letters on weekly basis or send them emails on daily basis. Express your feelings in the mails and tell your kids how much you love and care about them. Also tell how much you are missing them and you can’t wait for their return.

You should take your family to vacations after every six months or a year. Take them to historical places, Disneyland, fun places etc and have a lot of fun with them. Remember to capture your moments when you are on vacations with your family.

So ... what are some of your ways to make memories with your kids?