We have shot movies of our kids for years. And for years we haven't been watching them.

You know how it is. Your kids are small, growing up, and you're busy with basketball games and PTA meetings and scouting and running errands and doctor appointments and playing with the dog and every now and then if you do get a little free time you discover that the way you'd really like to spend it is to sleep! But there is definitely no time for watching old videos of your kids. Plus, who likes to see themselves in those things? No one, that's who. My voice sounds weird! I look fat! Is my bald spot REALLY that big? The camera must be lying.

But put those videos away for ten or twenty years, and they take on a new, almost magical quality. Now I know why we took them. So they could make us humble. So they could inspire us. So they could remind us of how small our problems are today, how good we have it now, and how hard it was then when we were raising four little ones. Someone was always screaming! Someone was always crying! And we all looked so young and virile.

The old movies remind us of relatives now passed away, and friends now estranged, and other difficult things. But how precious they become, after years in the box, not unlike wine in the bottle, these are well-aged, vintage memories that we may have otherwise forgotten.

We had a box full of videos, about 2 hours of images per year. And now that I am wrapping up a project to convert those hours of videos from fragile tape to the more robust DVD format, I am learning some things about what makes a good home video and what does not. Here are my tips to all dads out there. Don't throw away the camera; use it. Keep taking videos. Here goes.

1. Hold the camera VERY STILL. And move it VERY SLOWLY. I'm almost seasick trying to watch some of these early movies. The best shots were taken with the camera on a tripod, just setting in the room and capturing whatever happened. Next best were those where I purposely tried to move the camera very slowly, about ½ the speed you think you should. That looks about right.
2. Take "hidden camera" video. No, I am not suggesting you do anything illegal or immoral. But our best videos of the kids growing up were when we set the camera on a nearby table and just filmed the kids talking to each other. They didn't realize the camera was on. And while it seemed so ordinary at the time, now those are the videos that have us all rolling on the floor. The subtle power-plays between siblings make for great psycho-analysis 10 or 20 years later.
3. Don't film entire soccer games, or school music programs. You are never going to want to watch those things again. Trust me on this. Focus instead on trying to capture a few key scenes, ones that include your loved ones and their friends in candid, unrehearsed action.
4. Let the kids run the camera sometimes. You'll be amazed at their perspective on what's important, and how they narrate the scene they are filming. ("Here's my dad taking a nap . . . here's my dog . . . here's my peanut butter sandwich.")
5. Just film ordinary life. Eating breakfast. Waiting for the bus. Riding bicycles together. Create "a day in the life" video. We enjoyed watching these videos much more than the day at the amusement park or even our family vacations.
6. Put them away from ten years. You will be amazed at how great they are when you watch them later. They just aren't that special now, but believe me, they will be later. So keep shooting. You're not getting any slimmer, and you probably won't be growing any more hair!

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