Less is More?

[nesser1981]

Ok y'all, I'd love to hear some thoughts and opinions on scrapping as our kids are aging.

So I started this digital scrapping journey back in the summer of 2016, so 17 years ago. For the most part, I stay caught up, I go through little spells where I'll scrap a ton, and then don't touch it for months (I'm currently in one of the don't touch it spells). I still love it, but sometimes I can get bored because I do feel like I am just scrapping them same things over and over again, just for a new year.

I'm already trying to figure out my approach for this holiday season now that my oldest will be off at school, I know she'll be home for part of the hoopla, but do I need that two page spread of the kids decorating their gingerbread houses, or decorating the tree, every single year?

Or the pumpkin patch with everyone picking a pumpkin? Will the kids care if I didn't take those and scrap them in the future? Or will they be happy that there is just one photo that shows we did it and call it good?

I'm to the point that with the kids being almost 11, 15 and 18, I don't know that every single thing needs to be or should be documented. If I could get down to one album a year, with the exception of vacation albums here and there if they're to big to go into the yearly album.

What do you think? Anyone having these same thoughts? Changed your approach as your kids have gotten older? I want it to be meaningful, not events we're doing just to document them, or we're doing an activity, better scrap it, or else it didn't happen.

My current stash of books, my cabinets are almost full.

[allyanne]

I think you should scrap what YOU find meaningful and what YOU enjoy scrapping. My mom died when I was 22, and I wish more than anything that I had more photos & stories from the time immediately before she got sick. But that's a special circumstance, and it won't apply to everyone's life, thankfully. It made me want to capture and remember everything, though. I have scrapped my life extensively since, and I find it rewarding & therapeutic, but I do find that my focus has changed over the years. I now scrap the stories I want to remember vs what I think Aiden will want to remember. I want to have a record of my garden so I can look back next spring and remember how I planted that thing or what is typically blooming in May, etc.
If you're tired of two-page holiday spreads, then you don't have to make them. Make something else instead! Play around and see what is fun for you now.

[nesser1981]

Good advice Ally.

I know exactly what you mean. My dad passed away a month before I turned 3. Both my grandparents have now passed too, he and my mom had been divorced, his sister was only 10 and his brother's memory isn't great. So I have so few stories and photos of him. I think that's why I've always been such a photo taker.

But I need to find balance, because I feel like there is absolutely nothing new to add to these photos every year. No new story, it's just the same thing every year, just bigger people. LOL! And that's fine, but do I need that same volume of teens vs toddlers?

Originally Posted by allyanne

I think you should scrap what YOU find meaningful and what YOU enjoy scrapping. My mom died when I was 22, and I wish more than anything that I had more photos & stories from the time immediately before she got sick. But that's a special circumstance, and it won't apply to everyone's life, thankfully. It made me want to capture and remember everything, though. I have scrapped my life extensively since, and I find it rewarding & therapeutic, but I do find that my focus has changed over the years. I now scrap the stories I want to remember vs what I think Aiden will want to remember. I want to have a record of my garden so I can look back next spring and remember how I planted that thing or what is typically blooming in May, etc.
If you're tired of two-page holiday spreads, then you don't have to make them. Make something else instead! Play around and see what is fun for you now.

[allyanne]

Hmm, well, maybe do some simpler pocket style pages so you can have your photos printed, but use the opportunity to dig deeper and reflect more for actual stories and embellished layouts? Like maybe do some "now & then" focused journaling or reflections, but only have that on a page or two, and then do some pages that are photo-centric?

[nesser1981]

I'm leaning toward pocket style for sure. I don't know why this is causing me so much stress. LOL! This is suppose to be fun, right.

Originally Posted by allyanne

Hmm, well, maybe do some simpler pocket style pages so you can have your photos printed, but use the opportunity to dig deeper and reflect more for actual stories and embellished layouts? Like maybe do some "now & then" focused journaling or reflections, but only have that on a page or two, and then do some pages that are photo-centric?

[erica zane]

This is my current pile...


I for sure take less photos & we do less "things" as my kids age...they are 13, 16, 18 & 21 now. The past few (many) years I've started doing super simple blocked pages for our yearly family book to send to grandparents for Christmas & just make an extra copy for our house. & I do the same style pages for our yearly beach trip photos. like this...



Then when I make pages to document certain moments or just because I want to use a new kit or am feeling like scrapping something from any time frame, I save them in a folder & when I get enough built up, I make a "Random Moments V.insert number here" book just for me, they are more "scrappy", basically all my gallery LOs. My kids love looking through these ones the most. Like this...

facing pages are from 2005 & 2022, I just go with what I like the looks of next to each other

[nesser1981]

I like this Erica. You're for sure in those same ages that I am.

Originally Posted by erica zane

This is my current pile...


I for sure take less photos & we do less "things" as my kids age...they are 13, 16, 18 & 21 now. The past few (many) years I've started doing super simple blocked pages for our yearly family book to send to grandparents for Christmas & just make an extra copy for our house. & I do the same style pages for our yearly beach trip photos. like this...



Then when I make pages to document certain moments or just because I want to use a new kit or am feeling like scrapping something from any time frame, I save them in a folder & when I get enough built up, I make a "Random Moments V.insert number here" book just for me, they are more "scrappy", basically all my gallery LOs. My kids love looking through these ones the most. Like this...

facing pages are from 2005 & 2022, I just go with what I like the looks of next to each other

[rach3975]

I'm right there with you both, too. Mine are 14, 17, and 19. I scrap a lot fewer pages than I used to, but I still do about 2 photobooks a year. In their younger days I crammed as many photos as I could on a page because I had so many I wanted to include. Now I'm a lot more likely to have just 1 or 2 decent photos from any given event. I also do more to capture things happening in the news, etc. since my kids are aware of it now and might find it interesting to look back on.

My feelings about the pages vary--some I scrap because I love them and am motivated to scrap the event or photos, and some I scrap because I know I'll want them in the albums to look back on even if I don't enjoy the actual scrapping of them. My news pages (screenshots of headlines, etc.) and Project Life pages are in the second category. I keep them very simple so I can get them done quickly and I do fewer of them (went from weekly to monthly pocket pages), but I still do them. If your family is anything like mine, you may not have many years left of things like trips to the pumpkin patch, and you won't know it's the last time until a few years later. I'd keep your options open, still take a few photos (if your kids will let you!) and then see what you feel motivated to scrap. Maybe you no longer need pages and pages of Halloween-related events, but you still decide to do one spread that encompasses the entire Halloween season. I tend to find that a good way to balance that these things aren't quite as important in our life as they used to be (and I have a whole lot fewer photos and stories about them), but they were still happening.

[tjscraps]

I've stopped printing mine for the time being because I don't know what would happen to them if something was to happen to me. My kids don't really look at them - I just decided to scrap for me and my down time, and the bonus is that some of the memories are captured.

[joelsgirl]

I'm the same, Vanessa. In 2020, I just did mostly monthly recap pages using Cindy's Photo Palooza or Get It Scrapped series, and I did individual pages for photos that I loved and events that I had a lot of photos of (as long as they felt important enough to make their own page).

Even with that adjustment, I've still had a hard time keeping up to date for the last year, and I think it's just because scrapping doesn't bring me the same joy it once did. I have other interests now, so I, too, am trying to figure out a simpler system, but I really love to look at my beautiful layouts!

[nesser1981]

You know it's interesting, I don't feel like my kids really look at them all that often either, certain things they find interesting, like their old Christmas lists or the first day of school interviews they always hate doing, but they enjoy looking back at.

But, fast forward to this year and I was doing the pocket style books for my oldest, just photos for her, I ended up making 4 books total, I think 200ish pages in all, no journaling, just photos and she really loved looking at those. They were just for her, she wanted to see my progress, and maybe it was because they weren't so overwhelming, I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by tjscraps

I've stopped printing mine for the time being because I don't know what would happen to them if something was to happen to me. My kids don't really look at them - I just decided to scrap for me and my down time, and the bonus is that some of the memories are captured.

[nesser1981]

Yes, I still enjoy it, but do have other hobbies, and I need to find that balance so it doesn't feel like a chore.

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

I'm the same, Vanessa. In 2020, I just did mostly monthly recap pages using Cindy's Photo Palooza or Get It Scrapped series, and I did individual pages for photos that I loved and events that I had a lot of photos of (as long as they felt important enough to make their own page).

Even with that adjustment, I've still had a hard time keeping up to date for the last year, and I think it's just because scrapping doesn't bring me the same joy it once did. I have other interests now, so I, too, am trying to figure out a simpler system, but I really love to look at my beautiful layouts!

[DaniW]

I'm finding this very interesting! I'm sort of in the same boat with teens but in other ways not at all because I'm so far behind in my scrapbooking. My kids are nearly 15 and 18 and they make taking photos of them such a chore these days! And I often find myself taking the same photos over and over - like here is everyone at the dinner table as I try to remember to get photos of our day to day lives and not just holidays. And they (and my husband) give me a hard time about it but I'm thinking yes, I have this photo but that was in May 2023 and this one is June 2023 (or whatever) and I'm envisioning the photo in some June double page that at this rate I may not actually get to for another decade!!!

I also lost my parents when I was young - at 22 and 23 - and I do think that is a big part of why I take a lot of photos and want to document our lives. I'm nearing the ages of my parents when they died and that is scary - I want the kids to have these memories in case something happens to me! They don't look at our albums a ton right now but I have to believe that they will appreciate them later in life!!

But I'm very interested in seeing if I feel the same way as you guys when I actually manage to get back to scrapbooking regularly. I was the volunteer team photographer for all of my kids' teams and I have spent so much time editing thousands of sports photos for the last decade and a half that I have no time for scrapbooking but I desperately want to get back to it. I keep acquiring supplies because I'm addicted to them and that is a whole other hobby lol but I want to actually get a chance to use them and see our photos in print at last!

Anyway, I guess I'm not weighing in with an opinion exactly but I really enjoyed reading what everyone had to say about this!! I wonder how much I'll enjoy doing monthly pages when I get to the teen years and it's mostly cute photos of the dog with a few photos of scowling teens!!

[bienejen]

My kids are 14 and 18. I still take all the photos I want and don't apologize. They complain a lot, but I get my shot lol! They glance through our books periodically but I don't think they're really at the age that it's important to them. Girlfriends always enjoy them though, lol! I know that I'll enjoy looking back on them. I love looking at old photos of my childhood and our extended family and going back in time to the 40s/50s.
I find that what I take photos of and why has changed as the boys have grown up. The cute baby outfits and toddler firsts and school program photos have evolved into life achievements and personality and family adventures. I still do the annual traditions like getting our Christmas tree, decorating, Easter egg hunts, etc because they're fun and those things are important to ME and I'm the memory keeper. There may be nothing new that happens from year to year or there may be a funny anecdote from one occasion. Sometimes those pages don't have a ton of journaling but I like looking at them to see how kids have grown, hairstyles have changed, fashions, etc. I think you just have to decide what's important to you. Maybe you don't do a page for every Thanksgiving but group a few years together on one page - here's the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and Susie, Johnny, Jeff and I for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 or all the cranberry holidays for 2022? I jump all over the place time-wise when I'm scrapping which I think helps. Sometimes I'll do a 'pretty page' and add a second page of only photos laid out in a pocket style because I want to see all the photos without making a 'pretty', big spread.

[HavaDrPepper]

I'm adding my 2 cents even though I don't have kids...

I'm seeing a trend in these posts. All of you are the ones taking the photos. Are there any photos of you in these books? Maybe getting the rest of the family involved in the photo taking (that includes photos of you) will spark an interest for them to look at the books.

When I first started digi-scrapping in 2008 I wanted to do a layout of photos of just my mom and me... The last photo I had of just the 2 of us was taken when I was 10 years old in 1965. She died in 1996. I did have more recent photos of just my dad and I. I also made sure to have photos of just the 2 of us taken every couple of years after that.

It is great to document the lives of the kids but document your life as well. When they are older with families of their own, I wouldn't doubt that they will be more interested in the books and sharing their memories with their children.

[nesser1981]

I absolutely scrap myself, me and my hubby, other things that don’t involve the kids.

My kids and husband are not photo takers, my 18 year old daughter has maybe taken 5 selfies her entire life. Lol!

I?m just at a crossroads.

For example, I stopped doing thanksgiving layouts or even really taking photos on thanksgiving. I don’t miss it, nothing new happens, if it did, I would.

I think I just need to figure out what makes sense to me and feels like it is worth it, because more than anything I don?t want piles of undocumented memories.

Originally Posted by HavaDrPepper

I'm adding my 2 cents even though I don't have kids...

I'm seeing a trend in these posts. All of you are the ones taking the photos. Are there any photos of you in these books? Maybe getting the rest of the family involved in the photo taking (that includes photos of you) will spark an interest for them to look at the books.

When I first started digi-scrapping in 2008 I wanted to do a layout of photos of just my mom and me... The last photo I had of just the 2 of us was taken when I was 10 years old in 1965. She died in 1996. I did have more recent photos of just my dad and I. I also made sure to have photos of just the 2 of us taken every couple of years after that.

It is great to document the lives of the kids but document your life as well. When they are older with families of their own, I wouldn't doubt that they will be more interested in the books and sharing their memories with their children.

[nesser1981]

I love this conversation everyone! It’s given me a lot to think about as the busy photo season approaches.

[allyanne]

Sometimes with holiday photos, I give myself an assignment, like I'm going to focus on the food and the table and really make sure I have those photos. And the next year, maybe that's not important, so I focus on who was there, or the gifts, or the weather. I don't know, it might make it more interesting for you.

[StacyLynn]

My kids...are all grown now...19, 21, 23 and 25.
No more school stuff. No more sports.
Sometimes they send me photos of their adventures and sometimes I scrap them.

I have never been good at keeping up with a yearly book...
I did finish one big book for each kiddo when they graduated high school. I do have lots of vacation books finished (and lots unfinished...lol)

But we are planning a wedding for the end of 2024 and she wants babies right away so hopefully grandbabies soon....

So I usually just scrap for myself nowadays. Someday I would like to have books for each year, even if its just simple with photos. I do print pages and slip them into 12x12 protectors in albums by years.

[Kiana]

I print one album at a time, when I have enough for the Shutterfly free unlimited pages sales. My albums are all about 100 pages. All random years, days, events, moments, stories.

I scrap the same photo multiple times, and it's printed in books that way. Sometimes it's a pretty page, sometimes it's a story about something unrelated to that photo that I wanted to document. I scrap events, moments, holidays however I see fit.

When I started this hobby it was with the intent to get the memories, yes, but I still took the "less" is more approach. I based my approach on the way my family photo albums were when I was growing up. They were a culmination of our lives. Just with no stories and sometimes no dates. Back then when film and printed photos costed money, sometimes a roll of photos wouldn't get developed for months. You'd have Halloween photos with random moments and vacays and my parents would stick them in those "sticky" film albums and we'd look through them.

So I guess that's why I've been so comfortable not having a 'set" agenda to this hobby.
I have never scrapped chronologically, I don't do "vacay" or event albums, and I don't document everything. The moments & memories are there, in my albums. I'm happy with that.


Do what feels right to you, not what you think you need to do.

[DaniW]

The Virgo in me needs to work chronologically lol! So I do yearly albums but after my in-laws passed away and the kids' sports ramped up, I fell more and more behind. I do love doing vacation albums because I tend to take a ton of photos and it is fun and soothing to see things assembled together with a theme. Every so often I will do a current page out of sequence because I am inspired by photos from an event or a new kit but the page will just wait until I eventually have an album of that year for it. I actually lost some completed pages as a result when I had a drive failure a couple of years ago. Mostly the only current stuff I do is calendar pages each year and I love having new calendars up in the kitchen every year. At this point, I'm expecting to finally catch up on my albums when I'm an empty nester - a life that is quickly approaching!

[lovely1m]

I just decided to stop doing two albums a year and do just one now (I have only finished up to 2018). It lines up with my son becoming a teenager. Vacation albums will always stay their own though. I have been wondering what I will do when he's more of an adult and I have so many fewer photos.

[MamaBee]

With J 16… I’m feeling this too… he just isn’t doing cute things anymore, haha. But I’ve been scrapping more lately as I decided that every day o go through my Facebook memories to make sure those memories are documented. I’ve always been an everyday scrapper - rarely do I get holidays scrapped… and if they are mostly it’s because of something happened or there is something I think I will want to look back on… like prices of things.

I don’t know… I know the future will have less photos as I don’t get them from my son and hubby - they just don’t remember to take photos… so I probably will have more photo less pages. I’m not one to scrapbook about me much… scrapbooking is a stress reliever and scrapping about me is not something I find easy - not do I want to do. I’ve stopped scraping for my son as the focus, but for me on what I want to scrapbook. Thanks to my hormones and thyroid, my memory is mush.

[norton94]

You'll be surprised what they kids enjoy looking back on - mine are now 21 and 23 and have really enjoyed looking back at middle school and high school recently remembering the times and feeling a little "old" now that those things are "so long ago" It was really cute. When they are 40 they'll enjoy looking back at their 20s etc. I don't plan to stop. My DIL even sends me cute date nights to let me scrap their celebratory nights now that they are in grad school. So I think it's safe to say that the albums change but don't have to get simple or stop