Chatbooks: A Lazy Mom’s Guide to Documenting Childhood

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chatbooks family photosOf the list of jobs that fall under “Mom,” family historian is one of my least favorite (right after putting the laundry away). There’s so much pressure to:

Take the photos:

Must be a proper photograph. No blurred lines. No closed eyes. Basically, you need to be a professional photographer.

Store the photos:

Paper or electronic? What if your computer crashes? What if the prints get destroyed? You need both. Three sets of both. Maybe? I don’t know, better Google “photo storage solutions.” 

Arrange the photos:

Do people still scrapbook? Do they still arrange cutesy paper and stickers and stamps? Thankfully, the world has started to answer these questions with a big fat “no.” Will a photo album do? 

Say something clever about the photos:

Did you take a photo and write down that one time your two year old said the funniest thing that’s ever been said?! YOU DIDN’T!?! And you call yourself A MOM!?!

I’m getting a little dramatic, but this happens one area that technology has both hindered and helped. When we were growing up, if you didn’t get the film developed, you didn’t see the photos. Today, your camera roll is haunting you daily. 3,241 things just waiting for you to take care of. Seriously, Photos. Take. a. number.

It’s a good thing a mom of seven and her husband invented Chatbooks

In case you’re the scorekeeping type, that’s Technology -1 , Scrapbooking-0.

If you haven’t tried Chatbooks, you should.

Chatbooks brings the idea of creating a baby book to reality. There are so many ways to use it. You can create photo albums filled with photos from Instagram, Facebook, your cameral roll, or your camera roll favorites. You can even create albums by hashtag.

You can subscribe–so when you’ve taken 60 photos, you’ll automatically be sent a new album. You can create special albums. Big albums, small albums. Hard cover. Soft cover. There are so many great options!

Personally, I have a subscription and my albums are filled with photos from Instagram. My Instagram caption is included in the album. I supplement the subscription Chatbooks with a special Chatbook for each year of my girls’ lives. I am currently still behind by 3 years but as far as you know, I have it all together. 

I also keep a simple journal for each girl where I write them letters, tell them all the hilarious and intelligent things they say and do, give them updates on our family life, and generally tell them I love them more than they would otherwise allow. 

Chatbooks + Journal. Childhood documented. Badda bing. Badda boom. 

How do you document your kids’ childhoods?

*This post is not sponsored by Chatbooks. I just really love using them! 

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