CHILDERN AND STORYTELLING HIGHLIGHT FAMILY HISTORY 

Do you think family history is a bunch of dates and old, worn-out pictures of unidentified people?

Think again. Better yet, consider the following:

What's your favorite food?

Where were you born?

Who were your best elementary school friends?

What was your favorite board game when you were a kid?

Did you have an after-school job? How much did you earn?

You may have the answers to these questions, but would your children know if you asked them? What about your siblings, your cousins?

Your responses involve the past and your answers create your story, making it a part of your family's story and its history. 

If your children are aware of these things about you, CONGRATULATIONS! You're on the right track!

If not, then I ask you, what better time is there than now to perpetuate your history through them?

Storytelling has always been the best way to pass on history, and since no child can resist a good story, here're some ways to include the kids to ensure your legacy continues:   

• Reinstate traditional bedtimes to bond with your little ones. Share fact-filled memories of the fun you had with other family members. 
• Replace familiar bedtime stories with interesting tales of current relatives and ancestors. 
• Gather old photos and build stories around each one. Talk about the people in the picture and what they were doing. Discuss the time period and location of each photo.
• Encourage the kids to join in the storytelling by creating short stories of their own based on what they see in the picture.
• Write the stories down and retell them later (this creates a collection of family bedtime stories of your own - another fact to be added to your family's history). 

So you see, chronicling family history doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to depend on the expertise of Genealogists. Nor does it depend on pages and pages of forms to be kept by one person in one place.  

It just takes a few facts to get started and a willingness to keep it going. And it depends a great deal on the children. Through creativity and involvement, they are the key. 

So inform them, engage them. Pass on the facts, but teach them that your family history is not just names, dates and locations. It's not just about your past. Family history is about capturing the love spent in each moment; the moments that grow together to create a promising legacy for tomorrow.