The world is overflowing with parenting advice. You can learn from many experts about the best way to labor, how to bring baby home, how to get them to sleep, how to burp them and on and on. It’s endless.
But here is one piece of advice you may not have previously heard – write down everything!
Prior to Facebook, I would never have actually thought of this idea. Who has the time or the energy to write down the funny things the kids say? The crazy ways they act? But when Facebook came on the scene, I started writing quick posts when one of my kids would crack me up.
And then the following year, I would get a memory of that post. And I realized that I was onto something really cute. As the Facebook memories would resurface, I started collecting them in one location and then adding to them as new funniness was afoot.
Here are some of the examples:
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Eliav’s after-school teacher just told me that he’s so sweet and quiet….and then she added, “Not like your other boys at all.” (2009)
“Zeli!” Yehuda says, “soon mommy won’t be so fat and then we will have a baby!” (2010)
While leaving a tutoring session tonight, Matan heard the teacher say to him, “Go get ’em!” Looking confused, Matan turned to his teacher and said, “Who do I need to get?” (2010)
I just asked Amichai if he would please watch his little brothers for a few minutes. He looked at me and said, “Mommy. Capturing a wild tiger would be easier than watching my brothers.” (2013)
Just when I thought Yakir was drifting off to sleep (and I could sneak out) I hear, “Mommy, how do elephants eat der carrots? Where’s da mouth?” (2014)
Zeli and I were talking about when he will get his cast off. Raising his casted hand in the air he said, “When I get it off, I’ll say Chello Chand!” (2014)
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After years and years of collecting, I decided to compile all of it into a book.
And we have now spent hours upon hours reading the Sussman Sayings and rolling on the floor with laughter. As the kids got older and started to learn that I was compiling their funny moments, they would often be heard saying “Oh that was funny enough for the book!” or (more likely) “You’re so dumb. I would be embarrassed to have that in the book.”
Of course, it was hard to create a deadline for the book. When would the kids stop being funny? How would I know when to wrap it up? With our youngest son’s bar mitzvah, I figured it was time to bind it together. I could always make part 2 if I found the kids continued to be funny. Well, they have continued to be really funny but not always in a way that is sharable…
What a treasure this has been for the family! I’ve combined it with pictures through the years and created an album with copies for each set of grandparents and for us. It sits at the center of our family room for continued enjoyment and I typically know when someone is reading it as the layers of laughter peel through the house.
I don’t offer much parenting advice.
But this one – I highly recommend starting now and enjoying the fruits of your labor for years to come! Do it with your kids….and if it’s too late then do it with your grandchildren!
Enjoy!
