The Christmas Scrapbook: Mom as Memory Keeper

One of my favorite concepts mentioned in Edith Schaffer's What is a Family? is the idea that parents are memory makers.  Those hot trips to the zoo, the camp outs where it rains half the week (and you're sleeping in a tent!), visits to grandma's house, and Dad's bright idea to drive across the state of Texas, from Houston to Corpus to El Paso, are all the stuff of memories (specifically, those are the stuff of my childhood memories!).

Additionally, it falls on us, as mothers, to be memory keepers for the family.  Dad may (or may not) play some role in this, through helping take and organize pictures, creating slideshows or other fun ideas, but generally it's mom who takes the time to print photos, organize photos, scrapbook, put pictures in frames, and make sure the family Christmas cards are completed and mailed on time. 

I want to be a good memory keeper for my family, but at the same time, I have a balanced and realistic approach to the task.  First, I'm completely aware that I'm no Liz G. or Jansen H.  These are friends of mine who are Super Scrappers when it comes to Scrapbooking.  They take scrapbooking to the level of art, and the results are exquisite.  My scrapbooking is much more basic, and I'm usually working with whatever stickers and embellishments someone has purchased for me as a gift (thanks to my mother-in-law and Aunt Theresa, who keep me well-supplied!).   

I also know that, long term, I could be trying to scrapbook and (Lord willing, should He provide), I could be homeschooling a 5 year old while caring for a 3 year old and a 1 year old.  Yes, that's my life as I see it in about 3 years (I really can't wait to be there!).  Will I have a fabulous scrapbook for each child?  Probably not.  In fact, their baby books may not even be completed, and that's OK too!  But one simple thing I can do to keep memories for my family is create a Christmas Scrapbook.  

Nope, that's not my scrapbook page.  Like I said, I'm not that good!

I got this idea a few years ago from one of my favorite homeschooling moms, who happens to have five children.  She's on my list of "women I'd like to be when I grow up," partly because of her heart for the Lord, and partly because of her excellent organization and parenting skills.  This idea is very simple, especially if you like to scrapbook but can't find the time to do scrap every event in your family's life. 

Start by purchasing a scrapbook on clearance after Christmas.  Mine was at least 50% off at an after Christmas sale, simply because it's red.  Then I purchased several sheets of red and green paper.  I decided that the pages of my scrapbook would be in alternating colors of red and green.  Scrapbook a few pages for every Christmas.  The main goal is to show the high points of your Christmas:  where you spent the holiday, traditions you started, family you saw, and pictures of your family that year.  Isabelle's first Christmas, when she was just 4 days old, only took about 3 pages and very little time to complete.  The next year, I had much more to include, since we made our first ever gingerbread house and traveled to visit two different sides of the family.  In fact, I'm not even finished scrapping last year's Christmas.  But the scrapbook is out on the coffee table anyway, and Isabelle already loves to look through it and see pictures of herself with family.

Like a lot of crafts, I think it's wise to follow the KISS method.  Keep it Simple, Stupid.  If you don't, you'll get overwhelmed and never tackle or complete the project.  One thing I love about this is that it really is simple.  I finally got around to working on my Christmas scrapbook last September.  Even though I was behind, it took just a few days to scrapbook two Christmases.  Now I can think ahead to scrapbook this year's Christmas, which will be a perfect project to work on during those slow, relaxing days between Christmas and before New Year's.  Although now that I think about it, I might be too busy preparing for a new baby.  Seven weeks, people!  Seven weeks, and this baby is going to be here!

Any other ways you like to keep memories of your Christmases?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!