Lead with Love:How Mothers Can Use Their Greatest Strength to Manage Around Their Technical Weakness

My wife and I have been working on a video scrapbook for our son now for about a year. The project originally started out as a movie of all of our video clips but it was immediately apparent that this scope was far too great. As time went by and as more and more full DV tapes stacked up, we narrowed the scope to be just the first six months of his life instead.

But even this seemed to be a Herculean task. Where were we going to find the time to go through all of our tapes and catalog clips into their subjects and time indexes? Add this to the time it takes to transfer the footage to the PC, assimilate the clips in order, narrate specific clips, add music, transitions, titles, make a DVD menu and burn it to DVD and you can see that the time costs seem to far outweigh the return.

But this value assessment is only half the story because I saw the determined look in my wife's eyes as she sat at the PC the other night putting the movie together after almost six months of not even touching it.

She wasn't happy about getting back to the project once she opened it up and got going because half the files weren't there anymore. You see, I am anal-retentive about my computer files and about two weeks ago I went through a massive reorganization of my digital photographs. Oops, I forgot that we had about 40 pictures in the video scrapbook and moving them around meant big gaping holes in the movie. It took about an hour of her to repair the damage.

But she did it. And she had fun while doing it.

She went at it for about two more hours after that and she felt completely accomplished after it was over. Now, I find myself remembering back when we made our first movie-a memento of when our two little nieces visited us in Cincinnati. I followed my wife and those little girls around for two days through the zoo, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and our little apartment. We had enough footage by the end of the weekend to put together an hour long video.

I went out and bought a computer movie program and we began working on it right away. She was so uncoordinated with it at first and back then I didn't have much patience explaining programs to people. But we braved our way through it and ended up with a very good film which we were able to transfer to a VHS tape and give it to our nieces as a gift.

But the woman who sat at the computer the other night for three hours was not the same person who cursed the mouse because it wouldn't take her where she wanted to go three years ago. This woman was confident with her computer skills and with the program (although it is not the same program we started out with-they are all essentially the same). She was making production decisions on the fly, not even consulting me anymore about how to do it. She was trimming video clips, adding transitions and titles and she was having fun while doing it.

It just goes to show you that if you truly love what you're doing then the skills and experience will come with time. We started out just wanting to celebrate and share our child with our loved ones and this desire developed into an art form. The computer is our canvas and while we can't pin a video to the fridge, we can make scrapbook pages based on themes from our move and put those on the fridge.

Video Scrapbooking has become a method of communication for us; it allows us to talk about the things that mean the most to us-our family. In fact, we were communicating so well the other night that I got hit up to have another child-soon was the key word in that conversation. Perhaps we had better lay off the scrapbooking for a while and just teach others how to do it. Whew!

Joshua Minton is a father and husband as well as a writer. He currently serves as President and founding partner of Family Bliss Enterprises, Inc. but his background is in the health insurance industry where he has spent the last two years serving as Executive Business Analyst for the Executive Director of the nation's largest health insurer. Josh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He has published two novels, a book of poems and several short stories. He has won awards for his poetry and fiction, including the BGSU Alumni Book Award and was included in the 1999 edition of Who's Who in College America. Josh currently serves as President of Family Bliss Enterprise, Inc. and is webmaster and content editor of JOSHUAMINTON.COM where you can view samples of his essays, poetry, fiction and much more.

Breastfeed a Toddler - Why?

Is your baby approaching his or her first birthday and... Read More

Its OK to Say No

In the last 20 years we've all been introduced to... Read More

Homework Help for the Attention Deficit Child

Does the homework battle so typical with your hyperactive or... Read More

Missing The Bus

As a step daughter and step grand daughter, I followed... Read More

Top 10 Things To Never Believe From Your Teenager

1) It's not my (pot, beer, cigarettes, etc.), I'm just... Read More

5 Ways To Tell If A Preschooler Is Living In Your House

1. You reheated the same cup of coffee three times... Read More

How Can I Teach My Child To Be Responsible?

Most of us when asked what we want our children... Read More

Teaching Preschool Color and Shapes with Family Games

My kids just can't get enough of playing games with... Read More

Dexedrine, Cylert, and Adderall in the Treatment of ADHD

Dexedrine is not prescribed very often for the treatment of... Read More

Teaching Reading: Part 3, Whole Language Vs. Phonics

There are two methods for teaching children to read; whole... Read More

Parents, Teach Thought-Stopping! Fix Crooked Thinking Caps

Does your child pout, blame and brood? Does he gripe,... Read More

Every Mom Worries

Sitterphobe "I never have a second to myself," this mother... Read More

Stop, Look, Listen! Steps to Better Parenting Communication

As a parent is seems that the majority of your... Read More

Bad Boys/Good Boys (Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Being An Insensitive Dad)

I WAS AMAZEDI could hardly believe what I was hearing.... Read More

Games Of The Past Meet The Present

Recently, our family had the opportunity to care for sisters'... Read More

A New School Year

Depending on where you live school will be starting this... Read More

Raising Strong Daughters

When my daughter was born, I must admit there was... Read More

How Illiteracy Can Ruin Your Childs Life

It may seem obvious to many people why literacy is... Read More

Alias: Aptitude

Be aware. You may become totally overwhelmed when you get... Read More

How To Teach Your Children Courage

Courage means doing the right thing when it is hard,... Read More

The Safest Stuffed Toys for the Kids on your Gift List

Although it's hard to say when the first stuffed dogs... Read More

Top Ten Things Parents Must Know About State Academic Standards (What Your Child s/b Learning)

Public education in the United States has never been equal... Read More

What You Should Know About Counseling for Attention Deficit Disorder

At the ADHD Information Library we are big believers that... Read More

Sanity Savers For Busy Mums Page

Question 1 "How do I get more time to play?"... Read More

Develop Your Childs Genius: The King of Games - the Game of Kings

Many people still think that the game of chess is... Read More