>> DADS ARE SELDOM IN THE FAMILY

PHOTOS OR VIDEOS

If a stranger were to look through our family photo albums or watch some of our home videos, she would probably look up sadly at my children and say "You don't have a daddy, do you?" That's because I'm always the one taking the pictures and shooting the videos.
During our daughters’ early years, I video-recorded their most precious moments--a first step, a great catch, a school play--looking through a half-inch-wide black-and-white viewfinder. I have since graduated to a two-inch-wide color viewfinder.
Our first two tips are about video cameras; both are ones I wish I had tried years ago. If you have a clever idea, share it with the rest of us.

SHARE THE VIDEO RECORDER If you're the main camera operator in your family, I recommend sharing the chore with other family members. I just watched a few hours of home movies, and I wasn't in one scene. -- J.R.K., Reading, Pen.

PRECIOUS VIDEO TAPE My husband and I bought a video camera soon after our first child was born, and we use it regularly for special family events. Our two most precious videotapes, one for each of our two children, are ones that we use to capture their rapid growth and development on a regular basis. Once a month for the first two years, then every six months after that, we record 10-15 seconds of them sitting on or playing in front of the couch in our family room. I mark our calendar as a reminder. For the first two or three years, it's fun to include the same stuffed animal in each recording to clearly show how fast the child is growing. We hope to continue these recordings through the teen years. Years from now, we will be able to watch our children grow up before our eyes. Maybe the last recording will be of their wedding day. -- S.G., Portland