Have I Ever Told You?

This is a repost from 2008.  I wanted to revisit this idea to remind myself to keep going with these books. The main idea was to share fun stories from the past with our children… to teach values… and share lessons learned.

A few years ago Susan Tanner gave a great talk . Part of it reads:

“Almost three years ago, one of our daughters got married and immediately left with her husband for medical school in a distant city. She was leaving the security of the nest to begin a family of her own. I wondered: “Did I teach her everything she needs to know? Does she know what is most important in this life? Is she prepared to build a happy home?”

“As I watched her drive away, I remembered a little journal I gave her on her 17th birthday. It was entitled “Did I Tell You . . . ?” In it, I recorded counsel I had often given her in our late-night conversations. I thought of three additional entries I wanted to add to that little journal to help her make a transition more important and challenging than that of crossing the country: the transition to starting her own home and family.” April 2003 Gen. Conf.

The rest of her talk is a bit of that advice. I loved that idea of starting a little book of advice for my kids.

My sister-in-law Lisa made a little bedtime story book of stories about her and her husband. And then each year she would add cute little stories about the kids so it became a little personal history stories for the family.

Soooo, a few years ago, I started a book that combines a little of each of these books. Jimmy and I both wrote some fun memories of our childhood but also moments like about our temple sealing, the day we were baptized, and other special moments. And then I also wrote a few blurbs like about how I gained my testimony and other things I’d learned that I wanted to share. We added a few pages about the kids like about the day they were born and cute things about them. We put it in a half-size binder and laminated the pages so it could be a bed-time story book for the kiddos. It’s a ‘Have I ever told you….’ book.

I was reminded of all of this from this new book coming out by Lisa Bearnson. I love the idea behind it:

“This scrapbook tells what’s really important in life. It gives advice and wisdom and the honest to goodness truth. My goal for this book was for it to be a comforter, adviser and teacher for anyone looking at it–long after I’ve departed from this life.”

So whether you scrapbook or not, it’s easy enough to sit down for a few minutes every now and then to type:

a few things you’ve learned,
a few things you’ve cherished,
a few lovely memories,
a few things you believe,
a few silly or embarrassing moments…

the things your kids would love reading about. And maybe someday they’ll realize you were a totally normal person that felt alot like they do… and they’ll be strengthened somehow. You just never know… but maybe you’ll be strengthened by reading your own thoughts too.

These are a few we’ve started: