We are constantly losing our children. One day they are learning to crawl and babble. The next day they are running around and loudly proclaiming “I love you!”
I look at my son and daughter every day and think, “how are you growing up so quickly?” My dad friends often tell me they do the same.
About three years ago, I started journaling every night. I write a short note about the day and attach all the photos and videos from the day. Then, in the app, I can see my entries on this day a year, two years, and three years ago. Almost every night, my wife and I look through them and marvel at how little our kids were back then and how quickly they grew.
Oh, he took his first steps today two years ago... Look at how big his school uniform was on him; it’s so tight now... Aww he was such a small baby!
It’s like reliving those precious moments again and again. Bad days, the ones filled with meltdowns and tantrums, no longer feel miserable and often make me chuckle.
But I regret that I only started this practice a few months after my first child was born. It feels like those few months have slipped away. I still have the photos and videos from then, but the memories are blurry.
You will wish you had started this earlier, too.
P.S. Want to come back to this later? Keep it in your commonplace book.