Today is the last day of summer break. (!) Yes. I’m pretty excited. It was fun while it lasted, but then it got hot, dry and not so fun. So alas, on to something new. School!
We’ve been getting ready…school supplies, lunch boxes, and backpacks have all been purchased. Both kids have freshly cut hair. Just a few things left to finish up…new shoes for Collin, empty three-ring binders for this year’s artwork and papers, and putting the finishing touches on their bedrooms (my Dad came to visit this weekend…so no new progress on that front…but I did make a new Crock Pot recipe thanks to all of your great ideas!)
So while out school supply shopping, I stumbled upon the composition books. You know, the black swirly ones that go for 50 cents a pop this time of year? I picked up two, not really sure what I’d do with them (but at a buck total, it was worth the risk if I didn’t come up with something.) So the little books sat there…just waiting for me to come up with something…and then it hit me. I’ve been wanting to do a shared journal with my kids for a really long time, so why not now? While this may seem crazy, with school and homework starting and all, but it also coincides with a new rule in our home. This new rule is destined to free up a bunch of time for one eight year old boy that calls our house home: no video games during the week! So our shared journal will be a really fun way to fill some of that spare time. At least I think so. We’ll see what he thinks.
So here are the journals. One for Collin:
And the inside:
The paper and “i love you” tile is from KI Memories and the letter stickers and rub-ons are from American Crafts. (The letter stickers on the front are the new, vinyl sticker letters from American Crafts. So fun!)
And here’s Kailea’s:
Kailea helped me make hers. She picked out all the paper for the inside and outside (from Stemma). The inside doesn’t match, but she told me it doesn’t matter if it matches, as long as we like it. (I always learn something important when I make things with my kids.)
The plan is that we’ll take turns writing in the journals. When I finish writing in one of their journals, I’ll put it on their bed. Then they write something in it for me, and when they’re finished, they leave it on my bed. And back and forth it will go.
It’ll be fun to see how their writing changes throughout the year. Collin is learning cursive and Kailea will be polishing up her printing skills. I think it will be fun to ask them questions about their day at school, their teacher, friends, and things like that. And if they want they can draw pictures or tell me what they want for their birthday or Christmas. It’ll also be a place to tell them when they make my proud or to thank them for little things like making their bed, and stuff like that.
I’m super excited. I have my first entry done and will go “hide” the journals on their bed soon! Can’t wait to see where this leads us. I figure it will take me maybe ten minutes a day…if both kids get theirs back to me every day (which isn’t terribly likely.) But worst case scenario, ten minutes a day to focus solely on writing notes to my kiddos. A good investment indeed.
What a cool idea! First, I love the idea of limiting video games to the weekends – we need to do that with computer games (something my daughter has just picked up on – all educational games, but still … she’d never get off if we didn’t make her) and we were just talking about coming up with some sort of system for monitoring and limiting computer time.
Then, I love the idea of a journal that you *share* – that’s so cool! My kids are a tad young for this one (actually, I could start with my daughter …), but I can’t wait to try it when they get to that age. 🙂
This is such a great idea. I used to do something similar with my husband, but more for notes/to do’s etc. I used to always like flipping through it though. I tried doing summer journals this year that didn’t go well with the kids. I think this idea might work though since I will be involved, etc. With one going into 5th grade & the other going into 1st, I think this is a great time for both of them. Good luck & thanks for sharing!!!
I just knew you would do this one day! I have about 60 of these composition books because I use them for my clients. I was so hoping that you would decorate one so I could see it. Although, I do not have one creative bone in my body I love seeing what you do! Thanks for keeping my imagination alive!!
Cute idea! I’m going to hang on to that for my girls when they get older. (The oldest is just three so we’ve got a couple years). 🙂 I cover comp books all the time and love them.
What a great idea. My boys start kindergarden in a week (gasp) and this sounds like a great idea. Thank you for sharing your idea.
i love this idea!! we still haven’t done all our school supply shopping yet, but when we do i’m gonna grab a handful of those comp books!
thanks for the great inspiration!
xo,d
Could someone leave a link to directions on how to make one? I’ve tried it and would love to find a way to make mine look more “polished.” These are so cute!
This is such a neat idea! What a great way to have fun and bond too. I love this. I’ll have to remember this when my boys are a little older. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Love this idea. I will definitely do it. I know my girls will LOVE it at first .. and we’ll see what happens to them with time.
Great idea & I took it one step further. I’m horrible at keeping up with scrapbooking (according to books my children are 4 and 6 months) They are really 10 and 6! So I bought notebooks that had built in pockets and cd holder so at the very least I’ll store important yearly photos (first day school, halloween, b-day, etc…)in the pockets and then put others on cd. If we keep up with journal we should have a wonderful memory book of the year! Thanks for inspiration!
Our TV “goes to bed” during the school week. The first week or two, the kids asked or sneaked a lot. The hardest part was me really meaning it, because when they sat in front of the TV “I could get stuff done.” After that first 2 weeks, they don’t even ask to watch TV during the week anymore. My daughter & I share a journal – basically writing notes to each other. It comes & goes, and that’s OK because then it is not forced. We also read everyday at 4 PM. Bedtime reading just wasn’t working out for us. The kids each chose a book and put it in a basket. I read to them from each of their choices. If it is long one, we read one page. From there, it is a natural transition into homework time. Some of this seems unnatural at first, but is so worthwhile once you get going!
love the idea. my kids are still too young, but I’ll have to do it in a few years. Very cool!
Those are too cute! We’ve done this before with the kids and really enjoyed it. The trick is sticking with it…not always as consistent as I would like to be.
Aby:
Thankyou so much! Your journal idea was such a great idea.
Our two kids started going to
a new school a couple of days
ago. My son transitioned just
fine but my daughter was struggling. I left her notes
and little gifts on her bed
and she was thrilled. She
has left me a few notes too.
I’m loving how this simple
gesture has connected us.
THANKYOU!
Amy
I loved this idea Aby and did one for my eldest daughter … I’m excited to see how it goes. http://katydarling.typepad.com/lil_ol_me/2007/08/olivias-message.html
To make my notebooks, all I did was cut cardstock to just a bit larger than the cover. I glued it down using craft glue stick, and then sanded off the extra paper along the edges of the notebook using a sanding block. I then put on a very light coat of decoupage on the top. Hope this helps.
Aby, I’m not a super emotional person, but I teared up reading your post. I think it’s so beautiful to share these little impromptu love notes with your children. Kuddos to you. Surely an idea I will steal as B grows old enough to read and write (or even draw something I can make out!). Thank you so much for a great idea!
I also love Brooke’s idea about reading @ 4pm then transitioning into homework time. Night time reading has never worked for us. It just hypes up our kiddo. We do read during the day, but not regularly. Thanks Brooke.
Aby, I’m not a super emotional person, but I teared up reading your post. I think it’s so beautiful to share these little impromptu love notes with your children. Kuddos to you. Surely an idea I will steal as B grows old enough to read and write (or even draw something I can make out!). Thank you so much for a great idea!
I also love Brooke’s idea about reading @ 4pm then transitioning into homework time. Night time reading has never worked for us. It just hypes up our kiddo. We do read during the day, but not regularly. Thanks Brooke.
Aby, I’m not a super emotional person, but I teared up reading your post. I think it’s so beautiful to share these little impromptu love notes with your children. Kuddos to you. Surely an idea I will steal as B grows old enough to read and write (or even draw something I can make out!). Thank you so much for a great idea!
I also love Brooke’s idea about reading @ 4pm then transitioning into homework time. Night time reading has never worked for us. It just hypes up our kiddo. We do read during the day, but not regularly. Thanks Brooke.
Aby, I’m not a super emotional person, but I teared up reading your post. I think it’s so beautiful to share these little impromptu love notes with your children. Kuddos to you. Surely an idea I will steal as B grows old enough to read and write (or even draw something I can make out!). Thank you so much for a great idea!
I also love Brooke’s idea about reading @ 4pm then transitioning into homework time. Night time reading has never worked for us. It just hypes up our kiddo. We do read during the day, but not regularly. Thanks Brooke.