OPINION: Got the winter doldrums? Take time to jot down a bit of family history

Jan. 27—I'm always amazed at how much little kids love hearing family stories, whether they are about the "olden days" or about when their own parents were young. They especially love to hear stories about when they were babies or much younger.

Thinking back to my parenting days, I remember there were dozens and dozens of humorous incidents about the boys I never wrote down and now have entirely forgotten.

I also remember how harried young parents are with juggling work, family and life responsibilities and totally understand why there is no time to fastidiously document their children's formative years.

But now as a grandparent, I find there's much more time for things like that, and having arrived at the age of wisdom as my father used to always call it, I better understand the value of keeping better track of the family history. (My dad also used to bemoan the fact that once he had all the answers, nobody was interested in even asking the questions!)

That said, here is a suggestion for the grandparents reading this column who dote on their grandchildren and may have a bit of time during the slower winter months to write down a few family stories for the enjoyment of future generations. I feel certain the effort will be something deeply cherished through the years.

So far, I've written about five single-spaced pages about Harper and Hudson at age 6. It includes the things they enjoyed doing, tidbits they shared about their days in kindergarten, observations about the sports they played (for those who remember, the first year playing basketball is just a notch above mayhem) and stories that reflect their developing personalities.

By age 6, it seems patterns of behavior, interests and inner nature are becoming clearer. My written history will be something the twins can look back on 20 years from now and see if they have changed and how. (I would love to have something like that about me dating back 60 years.)

For Nolan, who just turned 1, his little personality is already pretty clear. He is the most social, curious baby I've been around. He hates to be alone in a room, won't sleep unless there is absolutely nothing else happening and simply has to explore everything in sight. I jokingly tell his father and papaw that he shares none of the Hyatt man characteristics of liking to stay home and be alone — something both say they have plenty of time to work on.

I'm planning to write a history of him at age 1 since all the experts say the most formative years are from ages 0 to 3. Since we only see him on Thursdays and weekends, I'll be interviewing other family members to get more stories and better capture his first year of life. I'll for sure write about his birth, too, because I know that is something children always like to hear about.

Hopefully these ideas have inspired grandparents and others to take a few hours to capture a few family history highlights and perhaps print them out to keep in a scrapbook along with some of the old-fashioned printed photographs.

There's little doubt today's youth are the most photographed and videoed generation in our history, but how lasting will the digital memories and quickly circulating posts on social media really be?

For a sure thing, I'm resorting to old school tactics where family memories can be shared sitting on a living room couch thumbing through an album, not a smart phone or whatever the next iteration of technology might bring.