An alternative to scrolling that will also entertain your child for years to come

And maybe also educate them?

I don't know about you but there are a few stories I remember hearing from my parents or grandparents that stuck with me throughout my life. And although I loved hearing them tell me those stories, now that I'm an adult and some of those people are no longer here, I'd give anything to still have those stories to look back on, and most importantly, the lessons hidden in those stories that I may have missed.

We know that people learn from stories- stories are the basis of how we do most of our communicating- and kids learn so much from what we model for them. But we probably don't do a lot of modeling of screwing up, or getting in fights with friends, or locking our keys in the car, or going to a party with people we don't know. Because, well, you know, we learned the hard way not to do that.

Obviously we don't want our kids to learn the hard way, but lecturing them on what not to do won't go over well. So when my child looked at me relieved when I told them I had gone through something similar to what they were facing, I realized I needed to be telling them stories ahead of time.

So on my commute home, or when I'm folding laundry, or I'm tempted to scroll but don't want to, I open a voice note and record a story. Sometimes they're serious, sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're cautionary (in a kid appropriate way).

Then I loaded those voice notes onto a Yoto card through the Yoto app (this is NOT an ad. We own a yoto, we love it, you can do this with any audio player you have, you could even load the files onto an ipod touch or an ipad. Heck, burn them to a CD if you still have a disc drive).

Now my kiddo can revisit those stories as much as they want, and most importantly, they can listen to the lessons in those stories, especially in moments where they may not feel comfortable coming to me.

This doesn't substitute for in person connection, but it provides a reminder that I'm here if they need me. And if you have family members who are far away or not always physically present, this is a wonderful way to maintain that connection.

Do you record stories for your kids? Share in the comments.