My kids don’t want the family photo albums, mementos. So here’s what they’re getting.

It’s not so easy at times finding exactly the right gift for the holidays.

So many questions... Is there a way to avoid sticker shock? Will the gift be easy to find and deliverable on time? What’s to keep the recipient from returning it or re-gifting it?

I gave this subject some thought a few years ago when it came time to decide how my four children might take possession of the many family scrapbooks, picture albums, sentimental papers, childhood drawings, documents — and anything else printed. Their voices were unanimous and unequivocal: “We don’t want those albums.” And they didn’t want any of the papers, documents and hard-copy files.

But what about all those incredible baby pictures, early photographs of ancestors, precious wedding portraits? Didn’t anyone want the birth certificates, report cards, hand-drawn cards, letters from great-grandparents?

Nope.

Their shelves were filled. Their desk drawers stuffed. They had accumulated more than enough without having all my “stuff.”

And that was about the time that I turned to my trusty scanner sitting right beside my desktop computer. The children and grandchildren would gladly accept computer files. In fact, they welcomed the opportunity to revisit their lives from birth to present — if it were handed to them digitally.

That began my quest to digitize every picture, every document, every greeting card — everything that could be scanned and filed on the computer.

Now, every child has his or her own file. If a picture featured all four children, that picture appears in all four files. Each photograph is dated and placed in order.

Each photograph is color enhanced, especially when decades of wear and tear had caused certain color alterations. If spots appeared, they were removed. Many pictures were edited to better focus on the subjects. Unbecoming red eyes were corrected.

I provided details about each photograph, including where it took place and who appears in it. If the date was in question, I would place “circa” indicating it was about a certain time period.

There are also individual files for family trips, special family events (think weddings), pets, recitals, holiday celebrations, graduations, organizational involvement, military service, ancestors.

Who has the time to do all this? If time is no object, most of us can accomplish this undertaking. I would often scan for a time, then walk away for days or even weeks. While scanning I found myself listening to favorite music selections or even a TV program. It was an ongoing endeavor accomplished on my time — when I was so inclined.

Will anyone look at these many thousands of scans in the years ahead? Who knows? But each child and grandchild has been given the opportunity this holiday season to take a look at those incredible baby pictures, early photographs of ancestors, precious wedding portraits and more — all with the gift of a thumb drive. Pop it into the computer — and there it is: Years in the making instantly available for this and future generations.

No scrapbooks. No stacks of papers. It’s simply the gift of memories of the most meaningful times in our lives.