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As a parent, we feel the natural urge to document our children’s growth. As they bloom before our eyes, we want to capture each moment as they transition through infancy, childhood, adolescence and their teenage years.

But despite technology only making it easier to make, record and edit videos, are family videos becoming a dying art? Gone are the days when the school swimming carnival was a sea of parents with camcorders glued to their eyes.

Perhaps it’s because we can take snippets of film on our smartphones, or document most things with digital cameras – filming has become more discreet. But if you need some encouragement to whip out your camcorder, here are a few good reasons not to forget about family videos:

Memories

There’s nothing like revisiting old memories. Whether they are birthdays, Christmases, family holidays or your kids playing dress ups, family videos are a great way to take a step back in time and relive past moments. And, often there’s nothing more hilarious than seeing the hairstyles and clothes that you once thought looked good. There are sure to be a few shrieks of “What was I thinking!”

Keep your lil’uns entertained

Once your children are old enough to operate the camera themselves, they also make for a great form of entertainment. Hours can be passed coming up with storylines, scripts and costumes for their very own TV shows or mini movie (which of course you will be required to watch!).

Great for future birthdays and speeches

Family videos can be a goldmine when later down the track you might be writing birthday or wedding speeches. They can jog your memory of funny things your children did, or special moments you want to share with others.

So if you don’t have a camcorder or video camera to capture all of your family’s special and funny moments, make sure you add it to your list! If you don’t want to shoulder the cost outright, you can rent a camcorder and other equipment, which spreads the cost of using a camcorder over a longer period of time. And, if you’ve got a few technical skills, you can even use laptop rental to get the computing equipment you need to edit your material.

And one day, when your children have flown the coop and you and your partner are empty nesters, you can re-watch the family videos and reminisce about the times when the house was chaotic, the children were young and see how the passing of time changes us all!