We are only a couple weeks away from Mother's Day and this is such a special time to love and appreciate the women who have given so much to us. But what do you buy the woman who has given you everything? Every year rolls around and it can be hard to match the thoughtfulness of the year before. One thing we know to be true is mothers love memories. The stories of your rearing that touched their hearts forever are the stories they tell over and over again. So why not gather your own stories for her to keep and rewatch again and again? Here's 10 ways to gather your family stories to give to mom this Mother's Day.
The most fun gifts are group gifts that get the whole family in on the fun. Hit up your sibling group chat or email and ask them to join you to do this for mom this year. If you are an Only, you can invite your mother's siblings and cousins to join you and help as well. Maybe your favorite Auntie has special stories you didn't know.
You may need to raid mom's house for this! Go through the old family albums and videos to take a trip down memory lane and spark for yourself your most favorite memories. You'll be surprised how many stories you have forgotten that'll flood back as if they were yesterday when you see those photos.
When you see these old memories, take turns with each sibling retelling the story. You will likely find that each of you have a different memory of what occurred which is a fun way to expand your memory.
Now is time for the magic. Record these precious stories told by each of you! Legacy Lock helps with this by easily setting up a profile, clicking the category of the story and clicking record. You can connect with other family members, and see each other's stories as well. If you prefer, you can choose to make your profile private and only let approved accounts to see your posted videos.
People get busy and when you plan something, or try to wrangle a group of people to do something, it requires effort on your end to remind them. Make sure to send regularly reminders every 2-3 days to your group chat.
Not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera (maybe that's you!) but sometimes what makes that easier is talking to someone else rather than staring directly at the camera lens. Host a story recording party where you can all set up your accounts together. Set up a simple recording area with good lighting, where you can prop the camera and press go. Then take turns sitting and telling your various stories. You can look off camera to your sibling to tell the story just next to the camera which will help remove nerves.
If your mom is elderly, she may not have a smart phone or use it much. You have two options to help set up her account. First, you can set up her account on your phone and switch to it anytime she wants to use it when you are together. Secondly, you can download Legacy Lock for her and help her set up and teach her what to do so she can connect with old friends and family to tell her own stories. Legacy Lock is designed to be very user friendly and once she learns the basics she will have so much fun going forward. *If you don't want to ruin the surprise, you can always do this on Mother's Day.
You probably already have this on your To Do list, but plan your Mother's Day get together to share your surprise. It'll be easiest at a private home, but since these stories will be available on all your phones, you really can do it anywhere.
If you are tech advanced enough, casting to the TV will be a great way to show these stories to everyone all at once. If you have a casting device you can select your phone to mirror to the connected to the TV. Then you can pull up Legacy Lock and play all your stories your siblings have recorded for mom. You will laugh together as you relive your funniest, most embarrassing, most cherished memories.
Don't stop with your immediate family. Invite cousins, godparents, aunts and uncles to join in on the fun. You will learn more about your family history and will enjoy building your legacy together.
Just remember, these recordings don't have to be perfect they just have to be honest. You can laugh, cry, backtrack when you remember a part of the story you missed. It is all those little parts of your personality that your mother loves about you and will cherish to watch over and over. Plus, if you mess up too much, you can always record it again. Memories are our most precious possessions as we get older but they can be the hardest to share. Not to mention, as we get much older they can be hard to recall again. These recorded memories allow mom and your family to go down memory lane anytime you'd like.
