It may be the Year of the Ox in China, but around the Johnston house it's the year of the grandbaby. Erica, Felicia and Helena all had babies since last fall. Margaret is expecting this fall and Amy is on the cusp of having twins.

I remember well.

When raising children, sometimes the days drag on forever. But when you look back, it looks like a movie on fast forward. Your children may live 80 years but they live with you for only 20 of those.

Make the experience count.

Years ago, there was a television game show where couples got five minutes to run around a grocery store and fill up a cart with whatever they wanted. It was interesting to watch their choices. Some couples loaded the cart with steaks. Others got a little bit of everything. Some got one big item — a huge box of Pampers.

Raising kids is like rushing around that store with a cart. You frantically try to "fill them" with all the things you think they'll need. You get them some soccer. You toss in a trip to Disneyland and enroll them in dance and swimming classes. Then, before you know it, the buzzer sounds and the mad-cap chase is over. The kids are out of the house, rushing around in their own crazy shopping spree.

And as we parents pump our children full of good food, good music and good manners, we need to realize it will be the experiences of getting what they need that will stay with them.

As for those shopping cart contestants, long after the steaks are gone, they will remember the day they spent scuttling through the supermarket like hamsters.

So with our children.

When the Christmas gifts are broken, they will only remember the Christmas times.

When the family dinners are through, they won't remember what was served — they'll just remember who was served.

So, that's what I'll be telling my kids. Fill your children with memories. Bring memorable moments up often. Each year, have a time when each child looks at past holidays and recalls a favorite memory.

Create a collection of "family folk stories." Put them in your shopping cart.

For when the buzzer sounds and the child-rearing blitz is over, those recollections will be what's worth keeping.

Email: jerjohn@desnews.com