I currently have 5,553 photos in my phone. The photos span back to my daughter’s pre-k promotion circa 2015. She’s now headed to the 7th grade (insert face palm). I am almost positive that some people have double or triple that amount on their phones, depending on their storage size. Seven years of moments stored in one device. My phone has made it so easy to scroll back to a faded memory and take a glimpse back to that moment. Last week, a framed photo I have was accidentally knocked off the wall, forcing me to purchase another frame. This led me to think about updating some other pictures around the house that reflect the milestones we are experiencing now in our family.
As moms, we take tons of pictures: every cute face, every event, every embarrassing moment. But for some reason, I rarely print those photos. I started to think about how my own kids have rarely seen a picture of their late great-grandparents.
Because of this, I decided to print some photos and some cool things happened:
- My toddler loved looking at pictures and naming the people he saw, the colors in the photos and seeing himself. It turned out to be a great teaching tool and our own version of family “flashcards.”
- It made some people smile. I gave some updated photos to my best friend of my kids (her godchildren). Even though she has access to those photos on social media and through messaging, it was nice to be able to physically give her pictures.
- My daughter wanted to hang them up in her room and my bonus son wanted some photos to take to college. I was really surprised by how much they enjoyed looking at the photos, especially when they mostly look at photos from their own devices.
But there are so many memories and so many moments, and I just don’t have the space to house them all.
Here are some ways to utilize printed photos:
- Pick 5-10 key photos from each year and keep them somewhere safe like a photo storage box. This could be one photo of each child and one family picture. This way, they will be passed down for generations to come and not overload your space.
- Check out mysocialbook.com. This site allows you to create your own photo collage book from pictures from your social media. It’s an updated version of our photo albums from grandma’s house, but a lot more streamlined and modern.
- Turn them into magnets. One place everyone gathers in my home is the kitchen. The refrigerator can serve as a display of memories and important events. These can be created locally at drugstores like CVS or Walgreens.
- Use them as decoration in your home or office. Photo collages are so easy, convenient and cheap. Check out places like the Dollar Tree for frames of random sizes and colors. Place your favorite photos in and you have an instant art gallery of memories.
- Print them for the elderly people in your life. My grandma doesn’t have Facebook or a smartphone. The only way she would see updated pictures of the kids would be someone showing her their phone and my social media. My cousins and I decided this year to print pictures off just for her.
This summer, I encourage you to print your photos. Use these prints as a tangible guide to your family’s story; a visual reminder of moments that can’t be scrolled past.
