Monday, March 25, 2013

Kid / Parent Bedtime Journal...Have you made one yet?

My kids, as you guys already know are old enough to draw and paint with assistance, but not old enough to write legibly.  I am not wishing their lives away, I am glad to wait until this new stage hits.  In the meantime, I am planning to make some journals with them that we can all use together one day.

I was at a home school conference a few years back and one of the speakers was a woman who is on staff at a local church here- Life Church- where the You Version Bible app came from.

I have been to the church and it is great, but not my home church.  However, one of the ladies held a seminar at the home school convention where she said she uses journals with her kids to communicate.  She said that often when they get older, they may stop sharing as much as they used to due to feeling like parents might yell or judge them etc.  She started with her son and daughter if I am not mistaken, and it was a hit.
The goal is to have your kids write in it either a response to your question  or a question of you they might have and then simply leave it under their bed!  In the morning you get it from under their pillow or wherever they stored it and you read it and put in your comments and then put it back.  This way you are both listening and responding with out cutting each other off or talking over each other or worse- making them feel belittled etc.

If you already have a great relationship with your kids then it may be good to try it and see if those communication lines can stay open.  I am going to experiment with the journals by having the kids  draw their feelings with faces.  When they are older, I can  have them work on their writing like momma!

With this idea, know however,  there may be some causalities.

The woman who mentioned this style of  journal in class said she was startled to find out what her daughter wrote in response to her question.  The mother asked what she as a mother could work on.  She thought,

What possibly, could my 11 year old daughter really  have to say to me about this?
Well, unfortunately, the daughter said that she wished her mother would stop yelling at her.  Ahem, uh, I am unfortunately guilty of this at times and have already started to work on it when I realized it.  For that mom, it was not too late but a wake up call.   I am glad to have resources already in my hip pocket before the kids are verbal enough to tell me the same (hopefully).

It will be a fun experiment / craft activity anyway.  Expect a future post on it when the kids get a bit bigger!

So speaking of this style of journal, have you done anything similar?  With a boss or a spouse? Or with yourself?  I am interested to know and see pictures!

22 comments:

  1. I love this idea! And I'd love to implement it with my family someday. My cousin and Uncle used to do something similar where they wrote in a shared journal together, almost like letters back and forth. There's something about the written word that can be so much more revealed and powerful than the spoken or digitized word. So, I really believe in this wholeheartedly. Thanks for bringing it to my mind again!

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  2. This is a wonderful idea. I had heard of this several years ago and never did it but wish I had. (My kids are 19 and 22 now.) Thankfully, we have great communication. I think my daughter would have especially loved it during her middle school years. She kept a lot more inside then. Stopped by from SITS. Have a great day!

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    1. awesome! thanks for stopping by...pass the journal idea on to those new mothers- I am excited about it!

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  3. This is great! I am a huge fan of words and sharing one's feelings and opinions. My husband and I sometimes communicate the way in which you describe in your post. I find that not only are we able to share our feelings without being interrupted and to have something tangible to refer to. I would love to do this with my daughter as she gets older. Thanks for sharing. Andrea @ be-quoted.com visiting from SITS.

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    1. Hey thanks a bunch Andrea! I am excited to do it myself! I hope you can make it fun and cool for your little girl!

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  4. This is a good idea. I like the idea of encouraging my children to write it out - even if they have a private journal as well.

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    1. Yes me too- either way - they are writing and that is a win-win! Thanks for stopping by Elizabeth!

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  5. enjoy! cannot wait to hear more about it! i am sure you two will become even closer!

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    1. oh, thanks! we will definitely be sharing it when the time comes! so excited

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  6. What a great idea! My second grade teacher had us all write in journals every morning and he'd respond to our thoughts and comments and ask questions back each day. It was my favorite part of the day and I just loved it.

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    1. Wow- in 2nd grade huh? Must have made quite an impact....it will be good to keep the tradition of writing going! thanks!

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  7. What a neat idea! I actually wrote a post about journaling about your children (I did this each night with both kids), but I never thought of having the kids express themselves in the same fashion.

    Love this!

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    1. oh, good! glad you enjoyed it..I am glad to have heard about it also , that way I can have lots of stuff ready to implement when they are able to express themselves! thanks for stopping by!

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  8. I haven't done this, but I think it is a brilliant idea.

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    1. oh good, thanks, let me know if you decide to start one! Your little girl is just the right age...

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  9. I *love* this idea - definitely remembering it for the future. A college professor I had once shared a journal with his son. They would write letters to each other, and it was a safe place for them to both talk about their feelings. My professor said that they would rarely discuss the things they wrote to each other, but that the journal helped them both have a lot of hard conversations when his son was a teenager. That stuck with me! :)

    Also - thank you so much for visiting sweetandsavorylife.com last week and making my SITS Day extra special! Thank you so much for your support :)

    Hoppy Easter!

    Sarah

    P.S. I'd love it if you would follow me on Facbook! www.facebook.com/sweetandsavorylife

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    1. oh, good, that is even better when fathers do the journal with their sons! I bet they had and still have a great relationship! thanks for saying hi!

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  10. I’ve never heard of this before, but it sounds like a great idea. Our toddler is just starting to learn letters and still only scribbles…but I’m definitely keeping the idea in the back of my mind. Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. Oh, good....
      I think we both are in just the right spot to use this with our kiddos! I am glad you liked it! thanks for popping in!

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  11. testing testing 1 2 3

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Thank you for all of your comments. I read, appreciate and reply to them all.