October 27, 2007
Memories of the Moon
On Thursday my family attended a Halloween party at our church. Dawson wore a spider costume I forgot I had. I bought it several years ago before I had children. I liked it because it was made of black, purple and green felt material and it was versatile in that a boy or a girl could wear it. I knew that someday I’d have a child and he or she would make and adorable spider.
I dressed Dawson in a black turtleneck and black sweatpants and put the costume over the top. Adorable indeed.
The “spider legs” of the costume were attached to each other with a long string that tied around Dawson’s wrists. He loved to raise his arms so that the “spider legs” would raise up, too.
My parents came along and it was so nice to watch my father help Dawson decorate a brown paper sandwich bag to carry his treats in. My mother was having a fantastic time admiring all the children in their costumes. And Doug was just happy to have someone else to talk to while I ran around, insanely taking pictures.
Dawson loved decorating a pumpkin with stickers and yarn. He made the cutest little punkin’. We all had some Halloween treats and decorated pumpkin cookies, too.
The five of us went to the party in my dad’s truck and when we were driving home, Dawson pointed to the full moon in the dark sky.
“Look, Poppa! Ders da moon!” he said.
My mother was sitting next to me in the back seat and she asked, “Do you remember when the Doodlebug was only 18 months old, and he could say just the one word, ‘moon’?”
I closed my eyes and remembered the days when Dawson would sit in his car seat and look out the window as we drove to our destination.
“Moooooon.” he would say, as he watched the pie in the sky. He repeated the word several times until he was certain he had it right. He was our little moon pie.
“I remember,” I told my mother. “He loved to say the word over and over again.”
At that moment I realized that I’ve become so unaware of time. My memory from 19 months ago, felt like it happened decades before.
Where does all the time go? Why haven’t I been paying closer attention? Why haven’t I been writing these memories down like I once did? When did I get so busy and stressed out?
I’m so thankful that my mother was able to help me stop and reflect. Before I know it, my little boy will be grown up and I will be grasping to hold on to these memories. But what if I forget?
The thought scares me. I want to hold on to every moment until the end of time. I want to write down even the most boring details, because they won’t seem so boring in twenty years. I’ll want to remember the good and the dull.
I made a promise to use blogging as a tool to remember the times of our lives that are important. But sometimes I’m too busy to take the time to blog it all. And then I feel bad about it. I used to write in a journal, but even that became tiresome. What’s worse is that I love scrap booking, but somehow I got behind with my archiving. (By nine months! Good grief!)
How do you record your memorable moments? Are you organized? Do you blog exclusively or do you do other things to preserve your precious memories? I’d love to read about what works for you.
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October 27th, 2007 at 7:12 pm, Jana Says:
Whew! I thought I was the only one who bought kid’s costumes before we had children.
I blog and have flickr for keeping the memories. Of course I always wish that I’d record more of the little things.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:41 am, Lotus Carroll Says:
I think it’s really easy to get behind…. I’ve been trying really hard with Braden. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stepped my blogging up so much in the past 6 months.
I also started this blog: http://abradenaday.blogspot.com in addition to my usual one, just to challenge myself on photos.
I don’t want to forget anything, and my memory is horrible, so it takes lots of work.
I think the payoff will be incredible years down the road, though.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:59 am, tori Says:
When each child was born, I bought a journal. Every few days/weeks/months/whenever, I write a little love note to each of them in their own journal and write about what they are doing, how I feel about it and the funny things they say. I hope to give each child thier journal someday when they have their own first child and will want to see what I felt about them at each stage.
I am about 2 YEARS behind on my scrapbooking and now have no idea how I will ever catch up!
October 31st, 2007 at 5:17 pm, Daisy Says:
Moon is such a fun word! I use the old-fashioned oral tradition a lot; I tell and retell the stories so that my children know them and remember them.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:21 pm, Her Bad Mother Says:
Blogging, and photos. That’s about it. I wish I did more, though.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:36 am, Dana Says:
Catherine…Ah!! But you blog so brilliantly! I need to learn how to do that. I feel like such an amateur, still after nearly two years.
Daisy, that’s a great tradition. I wish I could remember stories. I have to write things down or I will forget!
November 1st, 2007 at 8:42 am, Dana Says:
tori, a journal is a great idea. In fact, I have several. I may have to put post-it notes all over the house to remind myself to write!
LC, isn’t it amazing how easy it is to fall behind? I used to be on top of it all, but one day I just stopped.
Jana, you’re right. Blogging and flickr are great tools. We just have to make the effort to use them!