Sweet Memories

In November of 1992, I unknowingly started a tradition in our family which all seven of us have grown to love.

Murray was gone for the weekend for a work meeting, and I was home with Rebecca, two years old, and Sarah, ten months. The girls said and did so many cute things I was afraid I’d forget to tell Murray about, so I wrote them down.

We now have a notebook filled with more than 200 pages of things the kids have said over the years.

They have been such a joy to Murray and me, reminding us of things we otherwise would have forgotten. To our surprise, the kids love looking at them too.

Knowing how much young parents long for advice from older parents, we always recommend that people with small children do this as well.

I thought for fun, I’d start looking through them and picking out a few to share. If you come to visit us, we’ll be happy to show you the book itself and let you enjoy it as much as you like. We shamelessly have no doubt you will find great enjoyment in it.

November 6, 1992:

“I was holding Rebecca earlier, and she patted me and said, ‘Daddy.’  I said, ‘I'm Mommy.’  She said, ‘You're Daddy.  You're Daddy, Mommy.’"

November 7, 1992:

“This morning, I told Rebecca that I loved her.  I asked her who else loved her.  She said that Daddy did, and Sarah, and Caleb.  (This was a month before Caleb came to live with us.) I said, ‘I love you.’  She said, ‘I love Garrison.’” (Garrison was a little boy from church. Often Rebecca either said she loved Garrison, or he loved her. Murray and I kept telling each other, “We’ve got to talk to that boy’s parents.”)

“Later, I was taking a shower.  When I was done I heard Sarah crying in her playpen.  Rebecca was singing ‘Jesus loves me.’” (Trying to cheer her crying sister up.)

“I came into the dining room and sat down with Rebecca.  Sarah was in the living room, playing with some blocks.  Rebecca started stuffing chips into my mouth.  She said, ‘Look, Sarah, I'm feeding Mommy.’ When she'd fed me the last chip, she said, ‘I'm all done.’"

“A couple times in the last couple days I've asked Rebecca if she could tell me where Sarah's bottle has fallen in the kitchen.  (Rebecca would have been in the dining room, looking at me over the baby gate.) She's said that it's ‘by’ this or that.  And as I get down and feel around for it, she's said, ‘Right--right--right—‘  And this afternoon, as I obviously didn't move the way she wanted me toward the bottle, she said, ‘Right--Mommy!’ obviously frustrated.”

I do hope you find this fun, but I promise, it definitely made me smile.