[originaltext] The reason my husband Bill and I bought a video camera eight

The reason my husband Bill and I bought a video camera eight years ago when our first daughter Jane was born was that we could relive every moment of our kid’s lives. Until Annie’s first dance recital when the camcorder had a sudden breakdown, I never realized how little of their lives I was experiencing when I had a camcorder in front of my face. So I decided to try life without one.
    At first, I felt neglectful not filming birthdays or the first day of school. But when soccer season started, instead of "directing" my kids so I could get good video, I cheered when Jane, the goalie, made a save or when Annie charged ahead with the ball.
    Don’t get me wrong -- we want to document the girls’ childhoods. I write in memory books, save drawings and take plenty of still photos. With video, you’re a passive viewer, and events are recorded as is, with no room to embellish. But leafing through albums together and asking my kids "Remember when.9" triggers a dynamic collaboration. I ask them, then offer my own recollections, and before we know it, we’ve turned an event that’s ho-hum on video, like a trip to the zoo, into something spectacular.