IDEAS for Journaling {Now} to Your Adult Children {Later}

Yesterday I told you about the journal I write {now} to my adult children {later}, and I promised to share with you several ideas about which you could write in your own journals to your children. So… here you go:

Journaling Ideas

Hands: I outlined my hands, you know, like we used to do in elementary school to make a turkey?  Someday, when I am gone to be with Jesus, I envision my daughters, my grandchildren, and generations beyond placing their hands in mine to feel my love for them, unbound by time and unfettered by the grave.

Apologies: Like all parents, I snip or raise my voice or make a choice that I know hurts my kids’ hearts.  Of course I apologize to them at the moment, but sometimes, I also write about it because I want them to have a record of those times when I recognized my error and was sorry for hurting them. And sometimes there is more to the story… details they are too little now to understand, but that later they will appreciate.

Books: As an avid reader, I’d love nothing more than sharing some of my favorite books with the girls, so I include special titles and authors in the journal with the hope that someday they’ll want to read them and (discuss them with me), too.

Drawings: I pasted in a few little drawings my daughter drew of our family and of our cat; and later, I added a sketch she made of us having a snowball fight. I dated the art and described it using not only her words at the time, but my thoughts and feelings about the messages the drawings seemed to impart as well.

Advice: There are times I would love to provide guidance about friendship choices or spousal characteristics or parenting styles or reading selections – the list goes on and on! – but I know that little ears aren’t quite yet capable of understanding or appreciating this direction quite yet, so I include it in the journal.

Observations: At every birthday, I make note of how my kids answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I also write about the love language it seems they’re displaying, friends with whom they spend time, ways in which it looks like God is speaking to their hearts, and strengths I see in them.

Milestones: Birthdays, preschool, kindergarten, making the cast for the play, winning a piano award, getting published for the first time… these events mark time and growth, and sometimes (but not always) I include them when there is a lesson either they or I learned as we journeyed through the milestones together.

Quotes: When I come across a great quote – words that might speak to a particular circumstance or life stage – I jot it down. If there is a really good photo or image, I’ll print it out and paste it into the journal.

Profundities: These are rare, but you know it when they happen.  Once, my daughter told me that she could draw “forever,” and then she proceeded to draw a dot from which the line of a circle came out and met at the other side of the dot.  I pasted that drawing in her journal because I thought it was a profound and mature image of infinity!

Funnies: One daughter used to call snowflakes “snow-flags” and the other, when she was potty training, would yell as she was running to the bathroom that she had “peeps.” Because there are ten years between my daughters, the youngest nicknamed the oldest “Audi” and she calls herself “Eenie.”  These are just a few of our “inside jokes” that, when read later in life, should jog some deep memories of childhood.

Photos: I don’t do a lot of these, and what I do include is random.  I stuck a selfie of my daughter and me in there, on the day she turned 12, for example.

Verses: When reading scripture and I come across a verse that speaks to me about a child, I’ll jot it down and explain why I’m praying it over her now, or I’ll describe insights I gleaned from it that I want to pass along.

Incidents: Revelations from anything huge that happens in a child’s life is fair game.  One evening, for example, my oldest daughter had a frightening bike accident that required immediate dental care followed by a visit to the emergency room, an entire summer of regular dental visits, a root canal, and now braces.  I wanted her to know how many people came to visit her and how, when she was hurt, visits from loved ones really helped; I wanted her to know how terrifying it was to realize that even though I was with her at the time, I couldn’t stop the accident from happening and how very frustrating that was for me.

News: Sometimes, the news is incredibly impactful, and I’ll write about how it affects me or our family.  For example, my oldest daughter was born just a few weeks after 9/11, and so I included my insecurities about our country – and her future – during that time.

Lyrics: Occasionally I’ll come across a song or a poem that speaks to my mom-heart so deeply that I cannot help but to write down every chorus and verse.  I then explain why the words speak to me, and how I hope the sentiment will speak to her when she is a mom, too.

So those are a just a few of my ideas.

Like the one word for one year challenge – there may be weeks and even months that go by when you are simply not moved to write to your children, and that is okay!  I keep my girls’ journals next to my bed so that I see them in the morning and at night, and that way I keep mindful of them even if I don’t write in them for a long period of time.

Finally, keep in mind that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to write to your kids.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and prompt you; I am confident He will!

Happy writing!

Rhonda

I’d love to hear your process!  How do you journal to your kids?