We have been watching some of our old home movies lately and what a treat it has been.
When the kids were little, they loved nothing better than to watch video footage of themselves on TV. Forget the Wiggles or Play School – they would be entranced for hours (quite handy if mummy had something that needed to be done)!
But time and technology moved on and those precious memories ended up in a box … a time capsule which we have only just re-discovered.
When you are in the thick of parenting, it feels like it will last forever but I’m here to tell you those days pass oh-so-quickly, and it is so lovely now to be able to see the footage of our kids as tiny tots. The high pitched voices, the kissable baby cheeks and chunky toddler arms, how they were our devoted little shadows.
Just quietly, Mr 22 and Miss Almost 20 have been loving it too!
One video from our son’s 7th birthday had us all in stitches – as we got to watch our daughter (Miss 4 at the time) in action. Seriously, she would have given any Tantrums and Tiaras contestant a run for their money.
Our girl has always had a stubborn determined streak a mile wide – our challenge as parents was to harness that in a positive way …
Back in those days we used to give the non-birthday child a present so they wouldn’t feel left out. But it seemed Miss 4 was distinctly unimpressed with her new pyjamas – why didn’t she have new toys like her brother, the birthday boy? Was it the pout, the folding of the arms and stamping of the feet that gave the game away? Or the fact that she stated loudly that “pyjamas are boring!” before she cast them aside?!
Then she started having a hissy fit because she wanted to open one of her brother’s presents. Clearly he was only too familiar with the full-blown tantrum which was waiting in the wings – and quickly handed a gift over to her.
But it wasn’t all about our girl. Not only did we see our boy willingly share with his sister, we loved seeing just how excited he was by his presents – he clearly loved collectables even back then.
Just by watching our old home movies, we were reminded of so much:
- Just how loving we were (and are) as parents. As Miss Almost 20 said, “You talked to us like you talk to the cats!” (ie in a sweet baby voice).
- That we worked really hard to manage the temper tantrums of grumpy little people …
- And how we gave so many special little touches to both birthdays and Christmases, purely for the benefit of our kids.
We saw footage of our old house, and our beloved first cat, Chloe.
The kids agreed that the hubster hasn’t aged a day in the last 20 years, though his glasses are much nicer now.
And I didn’t even mind seeing myself with bed hair, and sans makeup – actually I was amazed how good I looked back in the day (the joy of youth!).
I am really glad we splashed out on a video camera all those years ago. It was expensive at the time but so worth it.
I wonder if the young families of today will get the same joy from old home movies, now that it seems every other minute is recorded for posterity on iphones or social media?
Do you have any old home movies? Did you ever give the non-birthday child a present too?!
Linking up with Denyse Whelan Blogs, for #lifethisweek.
My bro and SIL have home videos of my niece, but we also have home movies from the 1970s. My dad had a ‘super 8’ camera. No sound or anything but it’s lovely to see those old movies. Of course you always film the wrong stuff.
I notice it with my niece as well. There are hour-long videos of her unwrapping presents and so forth and it gets quite boring at times…
YES! We have hours of that too. And when we travelled Australia for 6 months, hubster took lots of video of scenery – even he wishes now that he’d actually taken more or the family instead!
Do we have home movies….oh yes!! Since we married we have been capturing family life via the old Super 8 camera, then graduated to the large video camera, then the smaller hand held one..and now, it’s good old iPhone. What have we done with them? Some have been put onto VHS (yep) and we recently showed the older grandkids some of their antics when they were very young. I love watching the movies but they can make me a bit sad now for the times that are long gone.
Thanks for linking up today. Denyse #lifethisweek
I know what you mean Denyse, sometimes I get homesick for my little tiny people … even though they have grown into the most excellent adults …
My mum has some old videos of when we were kids. We watched them not that long ago. They’re lovely to look back on, but sad for us too, as my brother, who has now passed away, is in the videos. But it’s nice to look back on the memories.
Oh that would be sad, but nice to have some memories captured on video too x
How sweet! I love your daughter’s reaction to her PJ’s. I made the mistake of getting my nephews and niece one item of clothing each last Christmas (along with some toys). One of them was so upset at the thought of a t-shirt as a present (it had a T-Rex boxing a Robot on it!!), that he burst into tears.
We have home videos of our year living in Malta as children and dad got them converted to DVD about six years ago. He loves watching them back but they offer hours of embarrassment for us kids doing silly things 😉
Kids are so honest and transparent. Mine cringed seeing what ungrateful little wretches they were, ripping into one Chrissy pressie after another and barely pausing for breath!
I love the videos I have of my girls. They love to watch them ack too, lots of giggles. I wish I had videos of my son when he was younger, I have plenty of photos!
We have a couple of home movies (Super 8) of the hubster as a little munchkin, like literally just walking. The resemblance with our son at the same age is uncanny, and something you don’t always detect in photos.