Getting Out the Photo Albums

Today was one of those days that there were no plans and no reason for me to be confined to my computer writing a book (as it's finished!). And after our record hot spell of weather, it was nice to wake up hearing the rain falling and be able to snuggle under the doona. We all slept in, stayed in our pyjamas till about 3pm and we watched a movie under the blankets.

But after the movie, the boys announced they were bored. And as I had already spent a small fortune on them this weekend paying for all their sports for the next season, tutoring and exam fees, I said that we can't afford to do anything 'fun' (as their idea of fun usually means go-karting, ten pin bowling or amusement rides). So I suggested, why don't we get the photo albums out on this dull uneventful day and start organising photos for the next edition. Again, the enthusiasm wasn't there, until I started pulling out the loose photos - you know, the photos that people give you over the years. My 9 year old kindly reminded me that I actually hadn't finished his baby photo album, so instead of starting the kinder-Grade 6 album, we finished the baby album (and sorted out the photos for the 'next editions!').

As my 9 year old was born as we were just beginning digital photos, most of the photos were on the 'old' computer, but for some reason, I cannot find any photos from his 2nd birthday, which is really weird. I would always have a stylish cake for their early birthdays, so there should have at least been a photo of the cake, but there is nothing around, and I can't even remember what it looked like. How bad am I? But I can't even remember what we did for his 2nd birthday... I remember events that happened around it, as he had grommets put in his ears a few days after, and he changed from a childcare conglomerate to Family Day Care, but his actual birthday has no visual prompts to remind us what happened. How bad do I feel?

So I put together his album, minus his 2 year old birthday photos, but I've left a page for 'just in case' we find some, or some kind relative gives us some. But now, I have the urge to do their albums for the next stages of their lives... and really, it is so important to have a pictorial memory of their lives in some sort of chronological order. It's a keepsake for them to show their children, and something they can pass on, as we have seen our grandparents do (and our parents attempt to do, but didn't quite get there, as photos became the norm, and time got the better of them!).  It's also a good reminder to them about how much we have done in their short lives, and maybe some appreciation might start come to fruition.

So now that I've finished my book, I know I could get onto the next story that's brewing in my mind, but I think it's just as important to get the boys albums together before the years get away from me and it's impossible to remember exact what happened when! :)