It’s Family History Month — And I’m Already Behind!
Well… October is Family History Month, and I’m already behind! 😂
I’ve been away enjoying a wonderful trip, and somewhere between the mountains, sightseeing, visiting and having a great time, October arrived.
I came home, looked at the calendar and thought:
Wait a minute. It’s Family History Month!
My first reaction was that I needed to catch up.
And then I realized something.
Isn’t that exactly how so many of us feel about our family history?
We’re behind on our research.
We’re behind on organizing our photographs.
We haven’t looked at our DNA matches lately.
There’s a pile of genealogy papers we’ve been meaning to file.
And we keep saying that someday we’re going to write down those family stories.
So I’ve decided we’re not going to spend Family History Month worrying about being behind.
We’re just going to start where we are.
31 Days of Family History — Choose Your Own Path!
To make that a little easier, I’ve created something new:
31 Days of Family History — Choose Your Own Path!
I’ve put together 31 small activities covering seven areas of family history:
🔎 Research
🧬 DNA
📷 Photos
✍️ Stories
🗂️ Organizing
❤️ Preserving
⭐ Celebrating
But here’s the important part.
You do NOT have to do them in order.
In fact, there really aren’t any “days.”
You might choose #3 today and #17 tomorrow.
You might decide that this is the month you finally spend some time with your family photographs.
You might only complete five activities.
You might complete one.
That still counts.
The goal isn’t to finish a challenge.
The goal is to do something that moves your family history forward.
One Small Thing Can Make a Difference
Sometimes we put off working on our family history because the project seems too big.
Organize my photos?
Where would I even begin?
Work on my DNA matches?
There are hundreds of them!
Write my family history?
That could take years.
But what if you changed the goal?
Instead of organizing your entire photo collection, identify one photograph.
Instead of solving all your DNA mysteries, investigate one match.
Instead of writing your family history, write 100 words about one grandparent.
Suddenly, it feels possible.
And those little things add up.
I Made You a Free Printable
I’ve created a FREE two-page printable checklist with all 31 activities.
You can print it and keep it beside your computer, tuck it into your genealogy binder, or put it somewhere you’ll see it throughout October.
Then, whenever you have a little time for family history, take a look at the list and ask yourself:
What could I do today?
👉 Get your FREE 31 Days of Family History printable here:
Come Join Us in the Dog Park
And while you’re there, I’d love to invite you to join the Family History Hound Dog Park communities.
It’s FREE to join.
The Dog Park is where we can talk about genealogy, DNA, family photographs, organizing our collections, family history mysteries and all those discoveries that make us want to tell someone:
“You won’t believe what I just found!”
You can sign up here:
If you’re already a member, head over to the Dog Park Lounge.
That’s where we’ll be talking about our Family History Month activities.
Tell Us When You’ve Done One!
Choose something from your checklist and give it a try.
When you complete one, come into the Dog Park Lounge and post:
DONE #___!
You can tell us what you discovered.
Share what you organized.
Tell us about the photograph you identified.
Celebrate the DNA connection you finally figured out.
Or simply say:
DONE #12!
Because sometimes checking that box feels pretty darn good.
And Remember…
If you’re reading this on October 5th, October 15th or even October 30th…
You are NOT behind.
You don’t have to catch up.
You don’t have to complete all 31.
You don’t even have to start with #1.
Just choose one thing.
Start where you are and move your family history forward.
🐾 Small Steps. Big Stories.
Happy Family History Month!
Ellen
The Family History Hound
Find It | Use It | Solve It