Voices from Our Past

“Was I really that little?” my five-year-old asked when the new baby came home. It’s sometimes hard for children to identify with the wrinkled baby that cries all the time or the sibling that is just learning to talk.

But my husband and I hit upon an idea that seems to help and fascinates children of any age. Each of our children has their own voice tape, which we began recording when they were newborns. The tapes contain everything from baby coos and gurgles, early words and songs, to the first stumbling attempts at reading simple primers.

Every six months or so, we sit everyone down for family home evening and update the tapes. The children love to hear themselves, and we inevitably end up listening to the whole tape every time. We have lots of fun laughing and crying over these voices from the past, and it helps the children to be more patient with those younger than themselves when they can hear that they really were that little once.—Geanie M. Roake, South Jordan, Utah

Illustrated by Brent Christison

Photography by Matt Reier