How I tricked my kids into writing

Several years ago, I saw a blog post about a Mom and Me Journal.  The idea is that you are a pen pal with your kids and write to each other back and forth in these journals about anything you want.  I instantly loved the idea but I was not sure if it was going to work.  The girls were thrilled with the idea at first as well.  And then, as I suspected, I had one child who wrote to me faithfully, and one who was more....sporadic with writing, shall we say.  And then, I went a long, long time without getting my journal back at all.

At first, I thought, well, I will just let them write to me whenever they want. This is a feel good thing, right?  Then I realized, most kids will not just write when they feel like it.  Or to put it another way, they will never feel like writing.  This summer, I decided to try another avenue.  So, not every day, but most days, one of the things they have to do is write to me in their journals.  I really want them to write over the summer and this is better (to them) than having a "writing assignment" (I am a teacher, you better believe I will do it!).   I have found, particularly with my youngest, that it helps if you ask specific questions (What was your favorite thing we did this week?).  And if you have a "I don't know what to write about" kid, you can pose your own questions ("If you could have 3 wishes, what would you wish for?") Answer the question yourself, then pass it on.  I don't require a certain amount be written and sometimes I get half writing and half pictures.  But I tell the teacher part of me to chill out, this is supposed to be a parenting thing.

Here is the link where I came across the idea on Pinterest.  

Mama and Me Journal

I got a composition book and put a piece of scrapbook paper over it.  I printed out the Mama & Me label and put that on top.  Then, I covered the front cover with contact paper.  You can get as fancy as you want to.  I just wanted to get it done.  I wrote a letter to them and put that in the front of the journal.  Here is a copy of what mine says:

And here is a website that has some fun ideas for what to talk about, particularly with older kids

30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me

I actually don't write the same thing in each of my girl's journals.  Sometimes we are silly, and sometimes we are serious.  When I was trying to stop yelling at my girls, I wrote them a very serious entry about what I was trying to do and why.  It was the biggest help towards not dropping my basket because we all somehow became vested in it together, just through my sharing.  And on the days I do still drop my basket, you got it, we talk about it...in the journal.  Sometimes my older daughter has shared painful parts of her day or confused feelings she has (sigh...puberty) and she didn't really know how to talk about it. Some conversations are easier to write.  Score one for the journal.

One of my favorite things is when they leave the journal for me.  They never, ever hand it to me. They usually leave it by my bedroom door, sometimes on my pillow.  We have fun sneaking them back into each other's rooms.  It's like we are secret pen pals.

The journal also serves as a pretty neat time capsule because they usually talk about what we did or were going to do that day, an experiment or field trip they liked...these are going to be great keepsakes.  And you usually get some gems every week, if nothing else, two full lines of "I love you".  But my favorite entry ever was:  "Mom, we are the greatest pair in the whole family.  We are funny together.  I mean, we are hi-larious"  (and for those of you who know her, of course that was from Moo).  Precious thoughts.

Sincerely Yours,
K