Are you EXPECTING?? Do you have children?

If you are pregnant or if you are a fairly new mom (or even an older one) you might like this journaling idea. Start a journal of your thoughts about your pregnancy and about your hopes and dreams for your new baby. This goes beyond an official baby book but you could use a pre-printed one and add pages in if you like. Include the ultrasound photos of course! Each month you can take photos of your baby bump and then write about your thoughts and preparations for the arrival of your new special someone. As your child grows up, you will be able to recall with them how you anticipated their birth. (I can promise you that you will forget a lot of things about your pregnancy and early childhood memories - especially if you have many children - it all starts to run together! LOL)

If you continue throughout the years to catch up this journal every month, or even a few times each year it will become a family treasure! Review and retell the stories of each child's life to them on their birthday as they grow up. Not only will it remind you of forgotten memories over the years, but it will impress on your children their uniqueness and their importance in your family's history.

Here's a quote by a friend from a journaling list;
"Once after cleaning out a cabinet in my study, I came upon a baby book of my first child, Morgan. In this book there were lists of firsts for her. Her first tooth, first Christmas, first crawl, first walk and even her first haircut were included! Morgan and I sat down and went through the book, and it was a thrill to reminisce about her early childhood. As  we talked about all the highlights of her life until now, she enjoyed seeing and hearing about the journey of her life."

It's a VERY good idea to do this for each child - even though it does get harder as you add more to your family. You will never regret taking the time to jot down things to add to the book - and taking time to sit down with a coffee for a few minutes once a month to write down a few thoughts in each book.
If you forgot to do this and you would like to - there is NO time like the present to start. You will be surprised how many things will come back to your mind as you start to write the story of your child's birth and early years! And it could be a wonderful present for them in the future.

Have you kept a journal like this for your children? Share how you record thoughts in your family journals and stories of how you have shared them with your children.

Happy journaling
Debbie