Now that it is “back to school” for most everyone by now, I remembered this idea of keeping a journal about your child’s senior year of high school which I blogged about back in 2007! Wow!
I read this idea in a magazine:
During your child’s senior year of high school, keep a daily journal of what happened in your child’s life…now here’s the challenge….keeping it positive! Not so easy at that point in time everyday! I kept the notebook by my bedside and was pretty good at writing something every night. I didn’t tell anyone that I was doing it; in fact, I didn’t decorate the front of the notebook until right before graduation. Now I was under no illusion that my child was going to think this was fantastic at the time….but I told them that in twenty, thirty, forty years from now when they found this in a box of their “stuff” they would probably find it quite interesting and valuable.
I’ve had some mothers tell me they do this every year for their child. I doubt I could have kept it up that long and that well, but at least I did for this one important year! This isn’t a scrapbook and it’s not my lofty thoughts…it’s just a notebook with the date and a write-up of what happened that day (unless it was something ugly!) (C’mon, we all know those days exist!). Some might be short, some longer.
You could do whatever suits you…the point is, just do something that will be a keepsake (someday!) for your child. And please do it in your own handwriting! I’m a big believer in handwriting….maybe I’m old-fashioned like that. I think to see someone’s handwriting brings them back to you. It’s part of our personality.
Let me know if you decide to do this and how it turns out!