I’ve stated before that I tend to have an “all or nothing” mindset. This sometimes keeps me from doing the things I want to do because if I can’t do them right then I don’t do them at all.
Almost twenty years ago I decided to keep a journal for each of our kids. My goal was to share my heart with my kids and to also keep track of the funny things they said and did especially when they were small.
I would write whenever I thought of it and needless to say, as we added more children to our family, I wrote less and less.
I hadn’t written in them for years and decided to pull them out during the holidays and share them with the kids. It was a powerful and emotional experience for the older kids. They were overwhelmed with getting a peek into mom’s heart. Not only that but we laughed until we cried as we read some of the funny things they said and did when they were small.
Evan said to me, “Mom, you need to blog about this. More moms need to do this for their kids. This is powerful.”
So I’m following Evan’s suggestion. If you haven’t ever considered doing something like this for your kids, I invite you to consider the possibility. I didn’t start until Anne was 5 and Evan was 3. Believe me, after seeing their response, it didn’t matter that I didn’t start at birth. What mattered is that I started. Period.
I can’t say I’ve done it well for all my kids, Anne’s journal has probably 30 entries in it, Evan’s about 25, Erica’s 20, and then there was little Austin. His journal has 3 entries in it. I guess I could consider that failure for Austin. I certainly wish I’d done better. But rather than beating myself up for that, I’m going to rest in God’s grace and start afresh even though he’s 12. There is still so much of my heart to share with him. We adopted Kolya 5 years ago and I don’t even have a journal for him. But that’s on my shopping list for this week.
What is it that you do to keep memories? How do you share your heart with your kids? This will be our January contest. If you share an idea, your name will be thrown in a hat and I’ll draw a winner on Tuesday, January 13. The winner will receive a Hearts at Home book of their choice.
Throughout the duration of the contest, I’ll be sharing some fun entries from my kids journals. May we all be encouraged to be the memory keepers in our family!
It’s timely that you should mention this, Jill! I am just about at the end of my current “personal” journal and as I have looked back through it, I realized that it has taken me 5 years to fill it! Wow!!! It includes the pregnancy and birth of our 3rd child…who just turned 5!
I am going to take your advice and try this even though my sons are now 9, 6, and 5, I know there are things I want them to know and funny stories I would like to share with them.
For me, sharing my heart is about writing! I try to write down the special memories I have. I’m actually getting a little more consistent since my boys are a little older. Right now, I am using my blog to journal about our 5yo who is about to undergo knee surgery on Wednesday and I want him to know all the miracles that have taken place to get us to this point and just how much I KNOW without a doubt that Jesus is holding him close.
Thank you for sharing your heart!
Blessings,
Marcia
Now I write some funny things on my blog.
I made a scrapbook of pictures from my pregnancy. I’ve continued to make books for his life. I need to catch up on this though. I’ve decided to take a little scrapbooking break and just put the pictures in photo albums for a while now. Soon my boy will start school and I imagine there will be more scrapbooks for those events!
When I found out I was pregnant the first time I started a journal for our baby. We lost that baby to miscarriage. It is a treasure to me now to go back and read my feelings during those few weeks of pregnancy. I like to write in that journal still on rememberance days, like the day of the miscarriage or day I was due.
The second time we got pregnant I again started a journal. I recorded events from my doctor’s appts., showers, etc. I continue to write in Caleb’s book periodically. I record funny things he has said and holiday memories. One thing I’ve done the past couple of years around Thanksgiving is make a thankful list in the journal. At the top of the page I’ll write Thank you God for…. Throughout the day for several days I’ll ask him what are you thankful for? it is fun to see his answers and how they change from year to year.
I’m glad you listened to your son and blogged about this!
When my kids were younger I wrote the funny things they said right on the kitchen calendar. I’ve saved all the calendars. A few months ago my daughter stumbled upon them and we sat down for the next hour and a half and laughed our heads off. I’m so glad I listened to the advice of a ‘seasoned’ mother and utilized the handy calendar to track their wit and insight.
As for sharing my heart with my kids….I love God’s creation. God has answered my prayers time and again through nature. Kids are naturally drawn to dewdrops on leaves, ladybugs, and the colors of the clouds at sunset. But I have made a point to try and teach them about their Creator God and the fact that God uses Creation to reveal himself to us, as Romans 1:20 says.
I had to delete my first comment as I reread it too late and my typing was horrific. I must be tired. I’ve kept a journal of each of my girls. I started out writing every month and kept at it, but as they grew out of infancy, they didn’t change so much month to month. I don’t write about them as often as I want to, but blogging helps and my far-away family loves it. I don’t scrapbook, don’t like it, but using online photo sites, I’ve been successful at creating photobooks for each year. I am no photographer but I do capture most of the big moments and some of the little ones. The girls love having the photo book in a a regular book format, there is nothing to come unglued!
Like many others, I too jot down funny things said, sweet moments, etc. Something that might help others with multiple children: I have one small 3-ring binder, kept in the kitchen (where I feel I spend the majority of my time) with a tabbed section for each child (instead of a separate journal for each child). I keep filler paper that fits the binder in my purse, beside my bed and of course in the binder itself. With the 3 ring binder style I can add as needed and the the filler paper is in several handy spots to pick up during quieter moments of reflection. Having just one binder is handy as I scrapbook, and only have one journal/binder to take to crops. I purchased the binder and paper at WalMart. I inserted my own homemade tabs. Many Sweet Memories to All.
Jill,
I'm not the greatest at keeping a journal so I don't even try to do that for my kids. I'm a single working mom & so it's often hard to find the quality one on one time I long for with each of my 2 kids but one thing that I do each year for them though is this – I make time out of my busy day at work each year on their birthday to go have lunch with them at school. It might not seem lunch much, but I know my kids enjoy it. They look forward to introducing me to new friends & seeing what suprise lunch I bring them each year. Plus, it's probably the one time that day that their brother/sister isn't around to take the spotlight off of them. I know that years down the road they'll remember our birthday lunches & I know that I'll treasure the special times too.
Hi Jill,
Loved your blog thought today. As my 3 children were growing up, I made them a prayer journal. It was kind of the same idea you wrote about, but I specifically chose a verse of scripture to claim for them for the year, wrote it down and journaled how I saw God answering that prayer for them that year. On their birthdays, I made a point of writing them a letter reflecting back and sharing in writing their verse for the next year. God has a way of showing us moms specific verses throughout the year to pray (depending on where our kids are at) but I loved having THE one verse in my mind for that year for them. It was amazing to watch how God answered those specific prayers over the years. When my kids graduated from highschool, one of the gifts I gave them was this prayer journal showing them the legacy of prayer from their mom. Needless to say, it touched them deeply. Over the years it helped me to stay accountable to pray specifically claiming God’s powerful word for my children. I have countless prayer answers I could share!!
Thanks for sharing your heart!!
I blog about cute/funny things that the boys do. Then sometimes I’ll print the blog posts and use them for journalling in scrapbooking. Not anything extremely creative but right now its what works for me!
Marlae…. your comment has me in tears over here. I have been feeling more and more convicted lately to pray for my children. Not pray more, PRAY – period!!! It feels so horrible to say but I have neglected this part of my parenting duty, unless it was an emergency type situation.
What a beautiful thing you have done for your kids.
I started out with my first writing the cute things he would say and petered out with each child. Thanks for posting about this. It’s such a great idea and I think tomorrow I’ll go out and buy three journals and start even though my kids are 10, 7, and five.
Jill,
Thanks for your inspiration to record memories! I know I’m in the minority here with only one child… but life is busy any way you slice it! I started a journal when Adam was 5mo. old and have managed to write in it pretty well over the years. It’s full now.. I need to buy a new one for his teen years! What has made it easy to remember to write in it is that I keep it in my “reading basket” in my bathroom. Sometimes that’s the only time I have 5 quiet minutes to think and write…and I see it several times a day!
I take a similar approach to what Diane does. (By the way, Diane, I loved your idea about collecting ornaments for your kids!) I have a journal, but don’t always have time to sit down and write about something when it happens. So, I take a post-it note, write down just enough words to remind me later and stick it in the journal for when I do have time to capture the moment in the journal, several days or weeks later.
— Launa
I’ve kept a journal for each of our 5 kids since our 14yo was born. However, I haven’t made an entry in 4 years. I have though printed out my emails that have our daily events and funny things the kids have done. I keep a pile of this to write about “later”. Our kids love to ask what they did at certain ages, and laugh about the silly things they said or did. This makes great family discussions. Thanks for the reminder to get back into doing this! By the way, as per Jill’s blog on reading the Bible in 2 years, we started that on Jan. 3. Thanks Jill, what a great idea!
Jill.. thanks so much for the gentle reminder. Time gets away from us all! One thing I've done is I try to sit down at the end of the year and write each of my kids a handwritten letter. In it I recap the year & dreams and prayers for them. I seal the letter, address it to our home & mail it! When I receive it in the mail, I grab it before they can see it & keep it in a safe place for when they turn 18! I will then give them a stack of letters… it will have the date & year stamped on the letter. One thing I wish I would have done: Save a copy so you're not tempted to open up old letters so you can "see what you wrote!" They will have a loving written note just for them & will be able to appreciate it when they are a bit older!
My daughter is 16 months. Since she was born I have done several things. First after every month I would journal what she did that month, what her favorite things were and anything special that occurred. I also keep a pocket calender where I record every cold, new tooth, silly dance, new food etc. I scrapbook so that is my biggest record keeper along with the pictures that show those special moments and different aspects of her personality. In addition, I started a blog so it has become a lot easier to record memories and remember special things like the first night she slept in the crib and how that went hour by hour for my husband and I. I can also have the blog published into a book which will be another keepsake if I wish. I am really big on recording history, personalities, random moments, etc so I love to record for Evelyn. Following her birth I wrote a 10 page entry on her labor and delivery. I also bought a special journal to record the pregnancy. She is one of my favorite subjects so its very easy to journal. I only hope to give the next ones as much focus and time. We’ll see!
Tawnda
[email protected]
My mom kept all of my birthday cards in a three ring binder. I did this for my kids until they were about five. It is fun to look back at them and talk about who sent the cards and which ones are from what friends. My mom was great about writing on the inside of the card who was who. I also have a large portfolio for their favorite art work, we chose together what four pictures or objects to keep at the end of each school year. My kids are 16 and 10 now.
Thank you for inspiring me. Immediately after I read this blog I picked up my journal for my son. He will be three this Sunday. The last entry was when he was 5 months old. He is my second child and the time has flown by. I am going to try to be better about journaling this year. I’ll call it my New Years resolution…..
Posted by: C. Williams
We are a homeschool family. I have graduated two of three children. At graduation I gave them ring binders with a record of yearly achievements. Each section began with a typed summary of achievements for the school year including curriculum they covered. Behind each summary were papers I collected for that year which included summer time as well. Every bit of information was placed in sheet protectors. The final project was much like a scrapbook.
The binders include a record of books they read, places they went and things they did. I kept special writings of theirs whether it was a story they made up or things they were interested in. I collected and kept, tickets, papers and brochures of every event attended. Also included was art work, usually drawings or coloring pages from their play time and sometimes an outline of their hand from Sunday School. Awards and certificates were also preserved. Sometimes I kept a copy of a letter they wrote that was note worthy of keeping.
I inserted school work that was excellent or sometimes because I had a note on it, a memory. I placed a note on my sons math page one day:
Josh came to the last two puzzles and said they were impossible. “I give up!” I had already given him the hint to “work backwards.” He got up to get the mail. He received a snowboard video. Suddenly he could do anything. He did his puzzles within seconds.
One child attended a Christian school one year. I was always searching for papers to file away in my box before they landed in the trash. Come to think of it, sometimes I did pull them out of the trash. The teacher made up a weekly report on each child. I kept one that I saw in a humorous light. Under comments: Josh “decided” his project for Science Fair at about 10:00AM today. He presented an “oral ” report on Geyser…
I used ring binders with a clear pocket on the front cover. I inserted some of their pictures here to help decorate the front of the album.
I also keep a journal for each child, and also struggle to record regularly! 🙂
For me, photography is a great way to capture memories and freeze them in time. We typically only get the camera out for b-days and holidays, but I try to capture the everyday simple things…the 18 month old unrolling the toilet paper roll, playing dress up, meal times. It’s easy to upload the pictures to photo sites and make simple photo books for each year to keep and share memories through the years.
My blog is basically my online journal. I blog for my girls. Many of my posts are written to them and periodically I write "updates" on what they are doing, how I am feeling as a mom, or what God is teaching me. My husband and I have a journal we write to each other in. My husband gave me the journal last year. In the front he wrote me a note saying he wanted our future generations of family to know how crazy he was about me! We write about our dates, love notes, etc. Also each year I keep a copy of our Christmas card, photo, & letter. Our Christmas letter usually is a good overview of our year. And each year we take a family photo. So that is my annual "snapshot" of our family.
One of my most treasured items from my now deceased mother-in-law is a cookbook that she hand wrote her recipes in. After she passed away my husband mentioned that he was going to miss her cauliflower salad that no one seemed to have a recipe for. Sure enough, we found it in her handwriting in her cookbook. I bought a cookbook for both of my kids that I will now handwrite our favorite recipes in so that when they are out on their own they will have them. I am also going to add little comments like “Paige took these cookies to school for her birthday treat every year from kindergarten to fifth grade.”, etc. When we come across a good recipe the kids will tell me to be sure to write it down in their cookbooks. I hope that someday they will treasure these cookbooks as much as I treasure my mother-in-law’s. ~Lynn [email protected]