Keeping a journal cannot only be beneficial to you as an individual, but
it can also be a benefit to your family. Do you remember the family
vacation to Disneyland when you were 12? What about your parent's
20-year anniversary? Or your birthday party when you turned 15? The new
house you moved into in 8th grade? High school graduation?
All those family memories from family events -- all those moments in
time, now past.
A family journal is a book, or a series of books, where family members
can journal about any event that has taken place. For example, there
could be one individual journal that you take to every family reunion to
capture current events year to year. It could have photos, memorabilia
and journal entries from those who attended the reunion. The journal
could also include letters, announcements and other updates from family
members.
Parents can journal daily to their children and include photos, drawings
and other memorabilia. Grandparents can create a family journal filled
with pictures, thoughts, and experiences of the grandkids. Children can
start a journal to their parents, sharing their experiences, dreams and
desires. The family can keep a sports, singing, dance, or other
activities journal to record memorable moments and events.
You can create a family travel journal. It is packed and taken along on
every family vacation. Each family member can journal their daily or
weekly experiences. This is a great place to add photos of your vacation
as well as other items such as addresses and phone numbers of where you
stayed, names of restaurants where you ate, or monuments or other
attractions you visited. You can even include other souvenirs that were
collected during each trip.
For those that take photos with Santa, this can be a wonderful family
memory that you can record from year to year. From a child's first
Christmas, the picture taken with Santa can document growth and
memories. You can also take the family to a special place and take an
annual photo. The special place can be in the back yard or at the
mountains, anywhere your family enjoys being together. Then each person
can journal where they are and what they are doing that year. The
younger children can draw a picture or write with a crayon in the family
journal.
Your family journal can include the house or houses in which you lived.
You can document your family homes throughout the years. If you never
moved, you can take photos of when you changed the paint color, or as
the foliage grew. Each family member can write an annual memory of
living in that home.
Another function of your family journal can be to record health
histories of your family members. This becomes a medical journal for
easy reference to past medical histories. At the same time, you can
record your family tree.
A family journal becomes a treasured keepsake and a wonderful, memorable
project and adventure that the whole family can work on together. This
is something that becomes a priceless treasure book filled with memories
that can be enjoyed for decades to come.
Copyright 2003 Doreene Clement All Rights Reserved
Doreene Clement is the creator of, The 5 Year Journal, a journal
where you can journal your life in one book, for 5 years. You can tour
the book at
http://www.the5yearjournal.com
Feel free to pass this along to your friends. If you want to see my
column, About Journaling, to subscribe
http://www.the5yearjournal.com
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/
Dressing Girls For School
I have spoken to so many parents who tell me it is a monumental task to get
their younger daughters ready for school in the morning. Unless your daughter
has only one set of clothes to wear, she probably wants to change her outfit
three times before choosing the one she will "agree" to wear to school each day.
Here's how we solved the problem in our family...
3 Easy Ways To Make An Awesome Playroom
Are you irritated every time you walk past your kids playroom? Paper here, toys
there, the floor is strewn with stuff that you can't even guess what it is! Most
of us feel a whole lot better when things are organized. Is it natural to be
neat and tidy or is it a skill that must be learned? We'll let you worry about
that question but we'll give you a few simple ideas on how to make that playroom
fun again.
What should you expect at 6 weeks, 6 months or 1 year? We provide useful
milestones and developmental stages so that you can keep an eye on your
baby's development in the first year. Baby Stages
Ideas For Sharing Stories
With Children
This two-part article discusses the ways in which stories and
storytelling play an important role in children's lives. Techniques are
offered for using stories to help develop children's verbal skills and
imaginations. This is part one.
Who Owns The Problem; Parent or Child?
It is tempting for parents to assume ownership and responsibility for everything that goes on in the life of their child. However, when the parent jumps in too soon to solve the problem or give the answer, the child never learns to trust his own judgment and become a critical thinker.
Parenting - Making A Schedule This article on the benefits of scheduling your day as a parent
really struck home with me. It took me a while to work this out for
myself when I had young children at home, and I wish I had done so - and
benefited from the much calmer household that was the result - sooner!
