Our new favorite family pastime is watching videos from when the kids were all really young. I know they’re all really young right now too, but these videos are when they were tiny young.
Most are 30-second iPhone videos of shaky first steps and first tastes of peas. The kids love seeing their toddler selves. I love seeing their toddler selves. It is family bonding at its best.
I have learned a few lessons, though…
1. If you don’t offer commentary, the kids will confuse the facts. After watching old videos the other night, every one of the kids came to me and said, “When I was little, you paid more attention to the other kids.” Seriously, all of them came to this conclusion. Separately. So, now as we watch the videos, I point out….”Sam, we always laughed at your cute noises. Elisabeth, we always held you. Catie, as the oldest so you pretty much dominated every scene ever in our lives.”
2. Watching old videos will make you want another baby. In real life I want another baby like I want a hole in my head, but watching old videos tricks you into believing babies are easy. We have dozens of movies of meal time with our kids, and ohmygoodness six-month-olds are cute when they’re spitting out peas.
BUT IT IS A TRICK. Six-month-olds are cute when spitting out peas on. a. video. Real life babies spitting out peas are exhausting. Those babies will shriek ten minutes after meal time because they’re hungry again. But you can’t even help them out because you’re washing their stained outfits and scrubbing those darn peas out of the cracks of their high chairs. STOP TRICKING US, VIDEOTAPED BABIES. WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE OF YOU.
3. Nothing makes you feel like a slacker as family historian like watching old videos. By watching these videos, I realize I’ve forgotten approximately 98% of what my kids were like as infants/toddlers. Heck, I’ve forgotten what I was like during those years. I remember nothing: the toys, the outfits, the habits, the toothless grins, the adorable baby babbling. Who is this family?
Of course the next shocking realization is that my kids are young right now. I am young(ish) right now. One day these will be the memories I’ve forgotten. I can either scramble to record everything in our lives as it is right now, or I can live life as fully as possible, okay with the realization I’ll remember nothing.
At least I’ll have a handful of videos to comfort me in that fact.
Just as long as I remember the cautions.
Well said. I love every (okay, ALMOST every) moment I spend with my kids, and in the back of my mind I know this won’t last long. And my daughter loves to see herself as a baby, so I can relate to the video showing.
Thomas…I’m glad to hear our kids aren’t the only ones who love to watch themselves on screen. I was a little afraid we were raising some future divas. =)