David had the rare opportunity to drop the kids off at school this morning. After dropping them off he called me and said, “Quick. Write this down. Claire just said …” and he quoted her, exactly the way she said it.
PS – My favorite pens for memory-keeping are for sure American Crafts’ Precision Pens.
David is totally catching on to something that I am personally working on and trying to be better about. And that is to write down those quick quotes, anecdotal stories, and other things that seem to come and go so quickly.
I do not have the best memory.
I honestly believe that this is part of what I love so much about memory-keeping is that if I didn’t photograph and write and record? I know I would forget so many important things. Especially when it comes to our kids and what they say. If I could see actual quotes of what I said as a little girl, and how I worded things … and things that David said – and our parents said – when they were kids? I would love that. So I’m really trying to be better about jotting down notes like this as they happen.
My secret to success in this effort?
The 3×4 Journaling Cards. For real. I keep a box of these in my purse, right along with my iPhone and sunglasses and wallet. Because when those moments happen, I can now be just as quick to write something down as I am to take a quick picture on my iPhone.
You’ll notice my little box is a bit worn from being tossed around so much, and a little empty from being utilized.
Why I love these cards:
1. Horizontal. Vertical. Whatever I want it to be.
2. Double-sided in case I have more to say on the back.
3. The grid is completely versatile in style. I leave most of them plain-jane but sometimes I’ll add a simple strip of patterned paper on one side for some color.
4. The 3×4 size is cute and small and not overwhelming to “fill” at all.
5. I drop the cards directly into the 3×4 pockets that most of our Photo Pocket Pages have.
6. I’m a better documenter because I’m capturing slices here and there without any effort at all.
7. I have felt way less guilty. Come on, Moms. You know what I’m talking about. How many times have your kids said something and you’ve thought, I have to write that down. And then you don’t. Me? Oh, just about 378,019 times so far. … But I’m so changing that.
The beauty is that you can stick notes in your son’s lunch or your husband’s brief case or on your daughter’s mirror. And then eventually the note can end up in the scrapbook because it’s already on the card that will go directly into a 3×4 pocket.
Plus, your kids can write on these cards and tell their own stories without feeling like they have to say a whole lot. In fact, I encourage others to share these cards with the whole family. Let them write and doodle and color and scribble and do whatever they want with these. You’ll magically have a collection of bits and pieces of their personality! Heck. At $3.99 for a box of 100, why not give each family member a box of cards and have them do whatever they want with their cards, right?
Around here the little Journaling Cards are becoming a family thing. Nothing real creative. Just using them for simple slices of everyday life – just like taking snapshots with a camera.
What are YOU doing with the Journaling Cards? We’d love to see – and potentially share – your ideas! Email submissions@beckyhiggins.com.
Side note: Most of you know that our family albums are in the form of a Shutterfly photo book, which I discuss briefly at the very beginning of my “Getting Organized with Kids’ Stuff” video. You can certainly implement scanned art or scanned cards or scanned anything into digital pages or photo books, just as easily as adding digital photos. For the cards we write on in our family, those are primarily for the kids’ individual scrapbooks, which I discuss in great detail in that same video.
Tags: american crafts, journaling cards, precision pens, Project Life
What a simple idea…wouldn’t you think we would all think about doing this??? I am so thankful for your blog to
keep us going. I loved the time capsule idea for Leap Day..I actually kept a couple of receipts I had from today and will add a couple of photos etc. Without kids around there are not quite as many fun things to journal about but I plan to do that project and look back in 4 years and see what I did. Thanks Becky for keeping us going….God Bless you all.
I think that David needs to buy Claire a rose
to set the example of what to expect in a man…one day….way down the road!!!
Okay, so the big questions is since you are doing Digital PL, where is the permanent spot for these cards? I know you said you put them in the page protectors, but are you just filling an entire album with these little cards? I like the idea, but I’m just wondering where I would actually do with them all since I plan on doing digital PL.
I am wondering this, too—are these cards going into the kids individual/school albums you showed us the other day?
The cards we’re writing on are really for the kids’ albums (which my recent video was ALL about) – not the family yearbook.
I am totally in love with the plain grid cards! Like you said, you can use them vertically or horizontally. I also love to decorate mine with the piles of stickers in my collection (from former days of traditional scrapbooking), giving me some creative license with my pages…
My girls (ages 3 and 1) and I made and decorated our Valentine’s for each other (and for Daddy) this year. I made sure to cut them the exact size to fit into the Project Life pockets before we decorated them.
I started using the grid cards for this same thing a few months ago and love the quotes I’ve captured from my three year old son! I also just got the Momento app for my IPhone last week and love it for how easy it is to capture these moments until I have time to jot it down on a card.
LOVE this idea. Putting some in my purse RIGHT NOW…
I am doing the personal yearbooks for my sons first grade class. The theme for March is ” My Teacher & I”. The teacher has graciously agreed to write a small note to each child. I am going to use the journaling cards for this purpose!!!
Can I just say how much I love you??? Just yesterday I was frustrated with myself for not recording a few things my daughter had said over the last few weeks in her journal. I kept intending to sit down and do it, and POOF they are gone!
Love the idea of keeping the cards handy and using them for this! Pop these in a page protector with a couple of pics and BAM!…Sweet and funny little quotes will not be forgotten.
Did I mention how much I love you?!
And those pens have been my Project Life pens from the start! They are awesome.
That is adorable! AND, I just did this tonight with our cute dinner conversation. Our daughter said to my husband – I love when I hear you in the morning because then I know I have two more hours to sleep. My son said – I know when I hear Mom come home from dropping Chelsea off that I only have a half an hour left to sleep. (He’s in college) I said to my husband – Sometimes I don’t hear you, which is weird. Then my husband said – I always know when you hear me because you put your hand out to hold my hand before I leave. <3 I love that — I love Project Life. I never would have thought to write that down before. You're awesome, Becky. Know that. : )
Oh such cute memories saved Becky, LOVE it! I use these cards as part of Stacy Julian’s Twelve system (that I have adapted to PL); I attach them to a small weekly file where I collect memorabilia, and jot down ideas for the week’s PL. That way, when I get to the end of the week and I need a re-cap, I haven’t forgotten anything! I now plan to keep a selection and pen in my handbag too; I usually immediately go to my calendar to write down something funny or cute, but this would be a much better idea! Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration!
I have been typing my quotes into my notes app on my iphone but have been meaning to transition to this. Thanks for the kick. It will be nice just to slip those cards in the pocket. BTW I cannot remember if I commented on the video (sad, I know) BUT it was SO helpful. Thank you. I even went to Target and nabbed those boxes on clearances. Yay!
Oh, great idea!! And I just had another to go with it…what about putting some in an old altoids tin or similar type metal or plastic box along with a small pencil or pen? I think you can get cute smaller pens and markers in art supply or party favor sections of stores. Little Project Life kits for on the go!
I have a book where I write them in. And together with our Christmas cards we send our favourite quotes from the kids. But the cards are much more portable, I have to say. Maybe it’s time to change just a little bit!
Thank you for the great idea! I have older kids, but I still want to remember the little things.
I do this! Just got the journaling cards and I instantly put them into my purse right next to my camera
That is so cute and priceless. Just the other day I told a friend I wish that I had written the things my kids said and are still saying. They are 29, 26 and 23. I don’t know if you remember me, I am Lisa B’s friend. I saw you at Kade’s report but didn’t get a chance to talk to you, and I missed you at the brunch. It was amazing huh? I was wondering, I have the physical kit and this is my 4th year. I never get behind on my pictures, but I do on my journaling, is there a digital something for the journaling cards that you can type, print and cut them. I seem to do better on my computer than hand writing them. Just checking. Lisa gave me one the day before my hubby went in for prostrate cancer surgery and haven’t missed one day since. I LOVE it. It is a blessing because I go back and look and I can’t remember some of the hard days….it was a really bad year, but because of Project Life I have all our hardships and blessings recorded. Thanks so much! I’m a huge fan!
I love this idea! I decorated a few with the Japanese washi tape after I used them for a fun punch of color.
[...] down the funny moments and little stories immediately! Becky Higgins wrote a post about it here. she is right. pull out your phone and type yourself an email. or leave yourself a voicemail. just [...]
[...] Higgins did a great post awhile back about using the journal cards to jot things down while it’s fresh in your mind. I [...]