One of the stranger things about getting older is realising that your parents are getting older too.
I know that sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget when someone has spent most of your life being the person who looked after everybody else. In my head, my mum is still the person organising family gatherings, feeding everyone who walks through the door and somehow knowing where everything is. The reality, though, is that life changes. She’s not quite as mobile as she once was and, although she still lives close enough that I can pop round for a cup of tea, she doesn’t get to see every part of family life as often as she’d like.
That’s especially true when it comes to my sister and her family, who live in Ireland. Throw in the fact that my mum now has two great-grandchildren through me, and there are suddenly a lot of little moments happening that she isn’t always there to witness.
That’s why I loved the idea of creating a family magazine through Famileo.
The concept is beautifully simple. Family members can upload photos and messages through the app or website whenever they like and, at the end of the month, they’re turned into a proper printed magazine that’s delivered through the post. It’s a lovely blend of old and new technology. We get the convenience of sharing things digitally, while my mum gets something physical she can sit down and enjoy with a cup of tea.
I set up the magazine and invited everyone to contribute. What I imagined was a heartwarming collection of family milestones, thoughtful updates and carefully chosen photographs.
What I got was that, plus a healthy amount of complete nonsense.
My children, unsurprisingly, interpreted the brief rather differently.
Rather than selecting elegant family portraits or meaningful snapshots, they immediately began digging out the most ridiculous photos they could find. There were questionable facial expressions, pictures taken from unfortunate angles and captions that made absolutely no attempt to provide context for anyone over the age of thirty. One photo was of my daughter Bee pushing one of her children through the park in an abandoned shopping trolley.
And of course there were plenty of unflattering pictures of me.
At one point I found myself wondering whether I should exercise a little editorial control. Famileo does let the person managing the account review contributions before they go to print, which is probably reassuring if your family is particularly chaotic.
Then I remembered that the silliness is the point.
Families aren’t glossy magazine spreads. They’re a collection of in-jokes, chaotic group chats, accidental photos and people who think they’re hilarious. The pictures that make us laugh are often the ones we treasure most because they capture people as they really are.
When the finished Famileo magazine arrived, that was exactly what made it so special. The magazine itself feels surprisingly substantial, with all of the photos and messages laid out in a way that genuinely looks like a family newsletter rather than a bundle of pictures stapled together.
There were updates from Ireland, snapshots of everyday life, photos of the children and grandchildren, and the sort of random moments that would normally disappear into a family WhatsApp chat and never be seen again. Looking through it felt less like reading a publication and more like spending time with people.
For my mum, I think that’s what mattered most. It wasn’t just a collection of pictures. It was a reminder that even when family members are busy, far away or caught up in their own lives, they’re still connected. She could sit down and flick through the pages whenever she liked, revisit moments she’d missed and feel a little more involved in everyone’s day-to-day lives.
In a world where so much of our communication disappears into social media feeds and messages, there’s something surprisingly powerful about holding family memories in your hands. My mum can leave her magazine on the coffee table, pick it up whenever she fancies and reread the same stories over and over again. It’s a completely different experience from scrolling through a phone.
The magazine isn’t perfect. It’s a little messy, occasionally baffling and contains far more photographs of people pulling faces than any publication probably should.
In other words, it’s a pretty accurate reflection of our family.
And I think that’s exactly why my mum loves it.
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If you have a parent, grandparent or other relative who doesn’t get to see family members as often as they’d like, Famileo is such a lovely way to help them feel connected. Whether your family is spread across different parts of the country or, like ours, across different countries entirely, it creates an easy way for everyone to share little snippets of everyday life.
One of the things I particularly liked was how low-effort it is for contributors. People can add photos and short messages whenever they think of it, and Famileo does all the hard work of turning everything into a professionally printed magazine. There’s no designing layouts, no printing photos and no trying to persuade relatives to start using a new social media platform.
Most importantly, it captures the things that matter. Not the big milestones necessarily, but the everyday moments that make up family life. The funny captions, the random selfies, the grandchildren covered in ice cream, the dog asleep in a ridiculous position. All the little things that make someone feel like they’re still part of what’s going on.
For my mum, it’s become something she genuinely looks forward to receiving. And if a magazine full of terrible jokes, questionable photos and family chaos can make someone smile every month, that’s a pretty lovely thing.
Sign up to Famileo today and get your first month FREE on the monthly plan with the code SLUMMY1.
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