Why I Make Family Videos And Put Them On Youtube

A few months ago I was asked why I put my videos on YouTube if they're just for family memories. I had to think for a minute because it's a good question! The person wondered if it was because I wanted to be famous or something which I think is a pretty normal thought about why you'd put your life online, especially if you don't have the inclination to do it yourself.

I was grateful for the question because it gave me a chance to really think about it.

Do I want to be famous? Well not really. I mean sure, having new subscribers is validating and motivating and seeing your YouTube channel grow is satisfying. But I don't want to be famous or considered an influencer. I'd love to have a community and make friends with other bloggers and vloggers though. And sure, if I could generate a little income from it that would be nice too but I'd want that to happen because people are getting something useful from my videos, not just for the sake of being famous. 

However at this stage, none of that is even a top 5 reason anyway. It's got nothing to do with why I started my channel. My main reason for posting my videos to YouTube is the accountability. 

I thought about it for a long time before I started, I'd say at least 6 months. I did a stack of practice filming and delved into SnapChat which I loved as a format to share snippets and grow my confidence in front of (and behind) the camera. I was watching more and more YouTubers and thinking how awesome it is they have all these amazing memories to look back on. I was just getting sad that a lot of my videos of Max were 10 second clips that are mostly lost to the snapchat ether.  

I did also have plenty of other videos but they just sat on my camera, phone and computer in a big jumbled mess. So I decided that I wasn't going to procrastinate anymore. I committed myself to a weekly video every week from Max's first birthday on.

 Ive got some lovely videos now that are properly organised and tell the story of our lives. Max is now 18 months so I've been making videos for 6 months - I've got 19 videos so I think that's pretty good going! We got married in that time too so things got a little chaotic! 

In 2017, Ive also hit a bit of a stride, I'm learning more and more about filming and editing and a nice workflow happening so I can stick to my posting commitment of at least once a week.

My only regret? That I didn't start sooner. When we have our next baby I'm going to have a full diary of updates on their first year and I don't really have that for Max. That said, I wouldn't have any structured videos at all if it wasn't for youtube. If other people watch and enjoy them all the better but my main goal is that they'll be there for our children to watch one day and know how much we love them.

I'm also grateful that when this time in our lives is a distant memory, we can watch these videos and be reminded of just how lucky we are to have been so blessed in this time of our lives.  These days pass with such chaos and speed so having video reminders of what it was like is so special. Who knows how my memory will be when I'm 90? Maybe these will be the only way I can be reminded.

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When I sit down to edit my videos, I get lost in it. It's something I enjoy so much, it's a creative outlet, I'm learning so many new skills and I have something invaluable to show for it. It's almost like meditation in the way that it draws me in.

Watching the videos back through the editing process, I can see things in a different light, the way I am as a parent and some of the cues I miss from Max. For eg in one video, Max is trying to point something out to me and I kept looking away and being distracted. He got frustrated and threw something which I reacted to but without realising what had been going on. It's just another reminder to me to be present, patient and perceptive. 

And I also noticed some of his development phases in a more pronounced way, like he has quite a range of words but I didn't quite realise how well he was doing until I edited down hours of footage into 20 mins and it's filled with his little chats. 

It's not all about Max though of course! A lot of my videos feature friends and family and it's so lovely to capture memories with them as well. Like the time we caught my friends little boy's first steps, or Christmas at my parents. It's nice to capture shared moments with all our loved ones. Those we don't see all the time and those that feature in our daily lives. It's all special.  

And related to that is how much more fun we have now that I'm making regular videos. I don't want every video to be the same - here's us at home, and here we are at home again - so we make an effort to do things worth filming. Hey, whatever works right! 

As a happy result, our house is kept neater and my routines are more efficient. I've always been a bit of a procrastinator so again with YouTube being my accountability buddy! I'm better at doing things when I have a proper reason to and limited time to do it. I'm so much more focussed on the things I want to achieve, including slowing our lives down to an easier pace. 

There are so many lovely reasons to be a vlogger/youtuber and these are some of my best. Maybe it will inspire you to start too <3

Rachelle xo