A Procrastinating Mom’s Guide to Preserving Summertime Memories

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To keep my kids from telling their teachers and friends that all they did this summer was watch reruns of Jesse, I realized we needed to make sure we properly captured our summertime memories.

I wish I was the mom who organized and kept up with my pictures, kids’ artwork, and other keepsakes, but I’m not. Frankly I gave myself that grace awhile ago.

So, if you are like me and want to still seize all those fun summer memories at the END of summer and avoid falling too far behind as the fall approaches, here are a few ideas to help you jog that summer memory bank:

Write It Out

I printed out fun calendars (because presentation is everything, even if it’s just for me), and I started out going through all the pictures I had taken this summer. This was so much fun, and it really reminded me that we did quite a bit this summer. Now, if you snap every possible angle of your child doing the same activity, this can be a daunting task. But it is also a good time to trash some of those repeats.

Thank goodness our phones show us the date and place we took the pictures! As I went through, I wrote down big events and even some of the small ones such as art camp, the trip to Six Flags, Ranger’s game, hiking at the park, and more. If I remember where I have this calendar saved, it will help for planning next summer. A few sites I like for calendars and fun printables are SaturdayGifts and I Should Be Mopping the Floor.

Organize Your Pictures

As I wrote down the events and looked through the pictures I took, I went ahead and organized them into folders and albums. This is something I pretty much never do, and it took a lot less time than I thought (who knew?). Your future self with love you for doing this. I marked my favorites, grouped together activities or trips, and deleted duplicate or blurred pictures I knew I wouldn’t want later.

Also, check out another article — “4 Simple Tips for Keeping Family Photos Organized” — for more ideas about this.

Make It Visual

Part of the good and bad about having our pictures on our phones is that’s where they stay. Until you go looking for a picture, you may have forgotten about all the great memories you’ve captured.

I decided to print several of the pictures from our summer as fun reminders. I leave them on the refrigerator, on the bathroom mirror for my girls to see every morning, and in frames around the house. Such fun memories should be viewed all the time!

Another fun idea is to print a photo book. My girls love looking through pictures, so being able to capture summertime memories in a fun photo book they can look at throughout the year is a great way to relive those memories. It’s easy to get photos printed. You can easily send them to Walgreens or CVS or go online and create an account with places such as Shutterfly, Mpix or Snapfish and have them mailed to you. You can create photo books through these sites as well. 

Chat About It

Reminisce about your summertime memories over dinner or while riding in the car. Through conversations, my girls reminded me of activities and fun memories I had already forgotten (doesn’t take long in our mom brains!). To get everyone’s brains thinking, you can ask questions such as:

  • What was the funniest thing to happen this summer?
  • What was your most memorable camp or trip?
  • What is a new activity or talent you picked up this summer?

At the beginning of summer, we created a summer bucket list and summer to-do list. We had a blast looking over them to see all that we could mark off our lists. 

Although busy fall is fast approaching with new memories to be made, you can continue enjoying your summer through pictures and fun conversations. Keep organized so they aren’t gone from your memories forever. 

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