3 easy ways to preserve your kids' summer memories
The days are long but the years are short.
— -- It's been said that when it comes to parenting, "the days are long but the years are short." In other words, while it can seem like many days are a struggle, chances are you'll look back when your kids are grown and wonder how it all went by so fast.
That feeling is never more prevalent than the so-called care-free days of summer, when the days are literally long and, with no school day to eat up hours of time, figuratively long as well.
But with only 18 summers between your baby's birth and the time he or she little leaves for college, it's important to preserve those sweet memories of summer childhood. Here are three ways to do just that:
Billed as a "digital memory box" for your child, this free app makes it easy to store all your kids' photos, videos, and even funny quips under their name. It creates a Facebook-like feed of events in chronological order, but the invite-only nature of the app keeps it private. Parents upload memories by name of their child and only people in that child's circle -- which may be no one other than the parent who created it -- giving that child a personal channel of the happiest moments of their life.
The standout feature of Little Hoots is the stylized way it stores the memories. When your kid says something hilarious you don't ever want to forget? Simply type it out in the app, upload and choose your background for a beautiful memory.
No idea what to do with the camp artwork, vacation shell collection and summer memories that come in the form of airline tickets and carnival wins? Put it in a box and send it to Plum Print. The company sends you a pre-paid box. Simply pile in all of the above and wait for an online proof. Add digital photos, rearrange pages and more. Approve the proof and wait at home for your child's customized coffee-table book of their summer treasures to arrive.
You decide if you want the box of items back or if Plum Print should dispose of it for you. Prices start at $39.99 and go up from there depending on how many pieces will be included in the final book.
Get a Hollywood-caliber movie trailer created of all your summer videos. Ur Life media offers packages starting at one-minute compilations complete with a customized storyline, a team of editors, added graphics and visual effects. Best of all: the voiceover which uses the familiar trailer voice we all know.
Each customer gets a real movie producer to work on their video. Prices start at $295 and go up from there depending on the length of the video.