There was once a time when I dreamed of being a total Pinterest mom… sitting around doing crafts with my kids all day while the warm breeze rolled through the windows, playing games outside, and cooking perfect toddler meals.

Then I became a mom.

While I do strive to do plenty of activities with my son, I also now understand that I’m much more of an Amazon Prime mom than a Pinterest mom. But that means when I do take part in Pinterest crafts with Henry, I want to make sure to capture them. Here are my three biggest tips for capturing those memories with your own kids:

1. DON’T FORGET THE DETAILS! Those tiny fingers that are covered in paint? The eyes filled with wonder and amazement? The mess? All of those are things that you will want to remember later on. Not only is it adorable to see the way that your child painted once upon a time, but it’s also a way to remember how tiny his or her hands were.
2. GET CLOSE AND GO WIDE! After taking some of those detail shots, it’s important to get the whole picture as well. Take a photo of the whole room or area where your child is doing this activity. You may not love the mess, but it’s fun to look back and see those moments in time.
3. TAKE A PHOTO OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT! After taking umpteen photos of your child/ren completing the activity, make sure to take a photo of the final product. Some of these projects will hang in your house, but others (like kid-made jewelry or anything with food) may make an appearance for a week and then go away into a box. However, when you a photo of it, you’ll never forget it. You can put it in a family yearbook or photo album and your child will be able to see it years later even if the actual item is long gone.

Children really do grow up so fast. Everyone told me that. Did I listen? Eh, kind of. Sometimes the days can really get long, and the messes grow larger; but I wouldn’t change it for anything. And I know that years from now I’ll look at these photos and get nostalgic for these simple times. Part of my legacy to Henry and any other future children is (in part) the photos I’m leaving them. The world is so different than it was when I was a kid, and I really appreciate looking back at the photos that my parents took. I can only hope that Henry feels the same when he looks at these photos in 20 years.