Sharing Your Mother's Wit and Wisdom

So that your grandkids know their great-grandmother, make a book of remembrance.

You've read articles online and in magazines and newspapers how you should share the stories of your parents, but it seems such a huge ordeal--you don't really know how to tackle that. Where to start?

I thought the same thing, but perhaps we should just break it down into something smaller, something we can tackle. A friend and I came up with these subjects that can make it easier. And what a treasure our children and grandchildren will have when you present it to them.

Here are some areas wherein you could create a book about your mom, and I'm betting you can come up with even more:

• Your mother's advice
• Recipes
• Funny sayings
• Humorous stories about her
• A book with photos of her creations. . .needlepoint, embroidery, knitting
• Photos of her artwork. . .perhaps she was a painter, potter, or watercolorist
• And this simple one. . .memories of my mother

I opted for a book of my mother's advice and folksy sayings. And what's fun about doing this one is you can ask your siblings and various family members about the advice or old adages that your mother shared with them. The whole process is fun!

Once you've collected her bits of advice, then just look for photos of her and add that to your book. The thing about about doing such a book is that it's not overwhelming. It's as easy as putting a piece of her advice on a page and perhaps a picture of her to go with it. But what a treasure your family will have, and they will learn much about her just reading her wisdom.

Possible cover for my mother's book of advice. Creating the cover alone is a grand bit of fun!

Just a simple greeting, but it conveyed so much love.

One of my mother's folksy sayings. Have you ever heard this one?

And that's it! How easy is that?

If you do a book of her recipes, you can still intersperse photos or pieces of advice in the book.

Showing off her crocheting in a book would make her so proud. She worked hard on all those creations. The same is true of her paintings; snap a picture with your cell phone and give some background on the paintings. Makes for a lovely coffee table book, but more importantly, a treasure for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

This is a nice project for these cold winter days. Give it a try. And if you've done a book about your mother or grandmother (or father or grandfather), please share with me, and I promise to share on my blog. We're all looking for ideas.

Here's a blog about a recipe book that my sister-in-law did with recipes from her and her children's grandmother. What a gem she presented to her kids one Christmas.

​www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/family-thanksgiving-recipes

The back cover of my mother's advice book.

​Happy Valentine's Day to all! Spread the love!! And you know, you can do it with a book. . .just saying. (Insert chuckle here.)

Postscript:

Interested in creating a book? Just google online book-making sites. There are numerous ones to choose from, or you can write me for my recommendations. Good luck!