[GuardianCaveman]

Emerson may or may not have said “ I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

I have a four year as well and we go on grand adventures in the mountains and all over really. I think about this quote and decide that I’m shaping my kids spirit, their courage, their confidence regardless of if they’ll remember it. Beyond that in the present we experience joy and curiosity and laughter and life! It’s silly to lament childhood amnesia because I dont aim to catalog things and check things off a list but experience a fun and interesting life with my family.

[demaga]

That's why we don't value photos that much in my family. The point is to actually _live_ a good life, not _remember_ it.

[stavros]

You don't have to choose between one or the other, though.

[rayboy1995]

This is true, I think its good to find a balance between living life and making sure you at least take some good memories.

I have had a number of times I just don't remember a moment, only for a friend to show an old photo they happened to see again and a flood of good memories come back.

[interroboink]

I thought your phrasing of "take some good memories" = photographs was kinda interesting, given the topic (:

As always, relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1314/

(though I do find myself in the "don't worry about documenting it" camp more often than not. The nagging background thought of "don't forget to take a picture" tends to bring me out of the moment, sometimes)