memory bank

I don't know what you call this.
I'm sure there is a name for it.
Sentimentality perhaps?
Memory bank more likely.

This is where I stored most of my children's milestones.
I have nearly every calendar since we got married ... and that will be 30 years next month.
This is a smattering of them.
Seriously, they really don't take up that much space.
Much less space than my collection of white glass!

At different times the calendars have been color coded. More color indicated more chaos and the need to differentiate between classes of chaos.

The photo below gave me a great hint as to when Brock started wearing underwear.
Now, mind you, this was before cell phones.
And for sure before life's events were stored on those cell phones.
I also kept small purse calendars and have saved those as well.
But the kitchen wall was the most handy place to jot down something real quicklike.
Life was lived by the calendar on the kitchen wall.

Sometimes life just goes from day to day without capturing what really goes on at home. The phases of picky eating children, for example, come and go ... and are quickly forgotten. Occasionally I would fill in spaces on the calendar with what kidlets were up to. That was a bit more difficult to remember. In my humble opinion ... some is better than none.

For goodness sake, if you have a phone that allows you to keep notes, talk to your phone once in a while. If your world involves solo trips to the grocer or Target, talk to that phone on the way. Spend a moment before going to sleep (if your brain still functions at that time of the nite) and jot a note. If there is a "melt your heart" moment ... write it down. We all have good intentions of remembering everything, but it doesn't happen.

Before you know it, the space you had stored those precious moments in your brain is compacted and zipped into a file so that new data can be input. Like the next doctors appointment, school event, shoe size, birthday party, etc.

Seriously, take a minute and write it down!
Find a spot (the same spot every year is helpful to remembering where that elusive spot is!) to store those calendars and voila!
Easiest memory bank ever.

I went through that Ansel Adams calendar multiple times looking for what I thought I had taped in there. Maybe I missed it. I'm still certain I put it in there. A. Long. Time. Ago.

The first silver hair I pulled out of my head.

These calendars aren't just for kids' milestones!