What things, photo's, memories, advice, etc. should a family pass on to their children?

Answer 1

All of the above.

Answer 2

Pass on the things that are important to you. Have you seen one of those "Grandparent's Memories" books? They have pages with heading that prompt you to write about your memories on different topics, like your favorite school memory, favorite vacation memory, what your parents were like, etc. The topics help you get over the "what do I write about?" hump. :-)

Beyond that, pass on the little things that you've acquired over the years that mean something to you...like any sentimental objects that belonged to your parents, or things that are special to you because they were given to you by your spouse.

One of the nicest things you can do is to go through and label the pictures in your photo albums. So many people have tons of old photos, but without the labels, the faces are just a mystery to the next generation.

One of the things that was passed on to me that I treasure the most is my grandfather's version of his family's history, including the important lessons in life that he learned along the way. What a special gift!

Answer 3

I think each child should get a photo of their parent's when they were young, their grandparents, and if you have any their gr. grandparents. Also try to make up a family tree and add little side notes like great Grandpa had a long white beard or mutton chop side burns or a bald head. And special personal moments you remember from each child. Especially their birth! Write down your favorite music as a teen and what you did for fun. Tell them to never date anyone who puts them down with negative comments or is abusive to them or anyone else. Most importantly tell them they are special and you love them. Pass on the knowledge that you can find something to be happy about in every day.
Then give each child a piece of your or your parents jewelry. Also give each child a special Christmas ornament.
They don't listen to advice but try to hit the highlights!
From a Mom of five!

Answer 4

Along with the things everybody else has mentioned... Scrapbooking is a great way to save memories and tell stories. I am not too good at doing it and don't include all the cute stuff but it is a wonderful mens of giving the past to the future.

Diana and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last year and our kids put together a scrapbook for us including our lives together and the lives of our four children. They used scanned photos in the scrapbook thus not having to use the original photo in the process. They also used non-acidic paper to help preserve the items in the scrapbook.

Here are some online documents that might be of help in preserving family history items so that you can pass them onto future generations:

Preserving Damaged Family Treasures
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hous2/mf2180.pdf

Caring for your Photographs
http://aic.stanford.edu/library/online/brochures/photos.htm

Care and preservation of photographic prints
http://www.hfmgv.org/explore/artifacts/photo.asp

Preserving Works on Paper: Manuscripts, Drawings, Prints, Posters, Maps, Documents
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/paper.html

How to preserve your own history
http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/history/preservation/

A Checklist for Preserving your Family Letters and Paper Heirlooms
http://www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/stories/papers.htm

Answer 5

there are really good books to buy that give you places to answer questions in them...my mother found one for me...it is called "Mother, Tell Me About You"...
things could consist of sentimental things for the individual children...wedding rings, old junk jewelry they thought were something special...
photos in a photo album with descriptions of who they were in relation to your children...family trees, personal information...such as the reason they died (this info may help them someday be more wary of cancer or other hereditary illnesses), dates, places...all that is important stuff...
advice? well, that is a personal thing...i have written letters to all my children, individually and sealed them for some time after my death...be it today or 50 years from now...just remember that if it is important to YOU it is probably important to THEM

Answer 6

you should share hard experiences that u had as a kid, preteen, and teen that way they'll realize that maybe u've gone through the same experiences as them, that way they'll be able to open up to u when they have a problem, when they do don't judge them, don't yell at them if they did something u told him not to just give him advices, and that way they'll trust you and have more respect for u.

Answer 7

All of those things would be great, plus family histories, stories, any dates, locations, documents, heirlooms such as china, quilts, bibles.

Answer 8

History and memory are enough, though the others do help.

Answer 9

I GAVE ALL THE PICTURES THAT WERE TAKEN OF EACH OF MY CHILDREN AND COPIED THEM SO THAT EACH COULD HAVE THEIR OWN MEMORIES . AS FAR AS THINGS LIKE DISHES , CHINA , SILVERWARE , IT GOES TO THE FIRST BORN . THAT'S THE WAY IT'S BEEN FOR GENERATIONS .

Answer 10

everything because I know nothing about my parents, grandparents etc. and I always feel awkward when my friends talk about the antics of their parents when they were younger and it makes me feel like I don't have a relationship with them.