Recording New Family Relationships and Additions in Scrapbooks

Every other Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation.

Scrapbooks are about current family relationships, past family relationships, and new family relationships. In the case of weddings and births, a page or an album about the wedding or birth illustrates this addition to the family.

One respondent recounts how one of the scrapbook pages his wife created reminded him about how he came to feel more like part of the family because it was on that trip that the children decided to take his name, too (none of these details, however, are included on the scrapbook page). In this way, the scrapbook helps prompt a story about how the family has expanded to include him.

Scrapbooks are also made to communicate that a person is part of the family. For instance, one respondent made a scrapbook page about his non-biological nephew as soon as his biological nephew was born to communicate to the non-biological nephew that he, too, was an important member of the family. He wanted to be sure that his non-biological nephew felt every bit as much of a part of the family as his new biological nephew. In this way, the scrapbook served as a communication tool with both of his nephews.

New family relationships and new additions to the family often prompt scrapbook pages. Anyone who has been involved in this hobby for any length of time knows this already. What we often don’t consider is the diversity that these new family relationships and additions might include.

How do you record new relationships and new family additions in your scrapbooks? Join the conversation below.

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Stephanie