So I Don’t Forget

I must have the worst memory in the world. Sometimes my husband will say things like, “remember that restaurant we went to years ago, when we travelled to …“. And, I have no clue what he’s talking about.

Most of my memories are sporadic and broad, the fine details mostly non-existent. It’s something that has bothered me for years, even prompting many discussions with my doctor – because of course, this has to mean something bigger. Alas, no insight into why I’m a person with such a bad memory – just something I’m sad to deal with.

This is why I take so many photos and videos – my reminder that it did happen. If there isn’t a photo, the time and place will disappear from my mind, most definitely.

At the top of this – my children. Quite honestly, I wish I was a person that could recall with great detail the day they each walked for the first time. Nope. Can I close my eyes and vividly see the first time they smiled? Nope.

The precious moments happen in life, and I take it all in the best I can, hoping that it’ll stay intact for later reference. It doesn’t. I silently scream that those little tidbit gems of raising kids will once be forgotten. So, millions of photos I take, and videos I capture. Even if it’s just them looking out a window. These captured moments are for me, and if they take like me at all, for them one day as well.

So, here’s a peek at my moments, those ones that make me smile. Some recent {Isabelle is currently 10. Sophia and Katelyn will be turning 7 in just a few short days}, and some are from the past, yet thankfully I had scribbled it down on a paper. 

So I don’t forget.

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“I like this real honey, Mom. It’s not like the carbonated stuff you get in the store”
 
– Isabelle, age 10 

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Scratching at the bend in her elbow. Picking at something on her skin, with her nail. Smelling it. Rubbing it. Scratching it again with a look of confusion. Finally saying to me, “Mom, I’ve sorry to tell you this, but I must have gotten poo on myself and it won’t come off”
 
– Katelyn, age 5. On first noticing she has a birthmark

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My daughter was getting annoyed that our new puppy wasn’t listening to her so I said, “Charlie doesn’t know what you’re saying, Katie, dogs don’t speak English like we do”
Katie: “Wait. What?! We speak English?!?!”
 
– Katelyn, age 6 {country confusion with England}

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“Why do I need to wipe the table? I did it yesterday?’
Me: “you also wiped your butt yesterday, does that mean you don’t need to today?”
“well played Mom”
 
– Conversations with Isabelle, age 10

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Many times the twins have dis-invited each other to their birthday party, since that’s the ultimate ‘I don’t like you’ as a kid, right?
 
– Sophia & Kateyln, age 4-6

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Still not understanding the ‘twin’ thing, there’s been a few times the girls have dressed the same or got the same item and then say to each other, “It’s like we’re twins!“.
 
– Sophia & Katelyn, age 4-6 {and they still don’t ‘get it’}

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“Mom, when we sell candy at Halloween …”
 
– Sophia, age 6 – girl guide cookie/halloween confusion

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Katie: “I had the most terrible dream last night”
Sophia: “that’s silly, Katie. There’s nothing terrible in this world”
 
– Twin-talk, age 5

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While in the car one day, Katelyn had a request for her Father whom was in the passenger seat right in front of her.

“Dad? can you shut your window? … Dad? It’s windy, can you shut your window? … Dad, please? … DAD! Can you please shut your window, it’s blowing me! …. DAD! Can you shut the window?”

I can’t remember what he was doing this entire time, but obviously he didn’t hear her.

“DAD! SHUT YOUR DAMN WINDOW!!!!”

He heard that time.
 
– A frustrated Katelyn, age 6

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♫ When I’m gone, When I’m gone. You gonna miss me by my feet when I’m gone. ♫
 
– Katelyn, age 5 – her version of the lyrics in ‘Cups’

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“Achoo!! Oh no … I just blessed out my gum”
 
– Sophia, Age 5

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At the top of her Christmas wishlist for 2012 – ‘leashes for Sophia and Katie’. For serious. 
 
– Isabelle, age 8

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♫ “I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, sayin ehhhh-oooo, I got your Lego...”♫
 
– Katelyn, age 4 – her version of the lyrics in ‘Dynamite’

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Katie screaming: “You broke my Barbie car!”
Sophia: “No I didn’t, it was born like that!”
 
– Twin-talk, age 4

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♫ “Wake up in the morning feeling like spaghetti…” ♫
 
– Katelyn, almost 4 – her version of the lyrics in ‘Tik Tok’

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“Can I do my hair differently tomorrow?”
I said “Sure, but why are you holding a fork?”
Her reply, “Well, Chinese girls put chopsticks in their hair, and it must be in case they get hungry. And we eat with forks so … duh, Mom”
 
-Isabelle, age 7

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Practicing for her spelling test I ask. “Spell ‘awesome’”
Her: “Can you use that in a sentence?”
Me: “I am awesome”
Her: “Try again, this time in a real sentence”
 
– Isabelle, age 7

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“That’s a big dumb f*ck, Mom. I like that dumb f*ck”
 
– Sophia, age 3 – talking about dump trucks

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“I love you – just the way you are”
 
– Isabelle, age 6 saying as she kissed her sister Katie’s forehead who was age 2 at the time

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What are some parenting moments that you don’t want to forget?