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For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

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For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Parenting

Anyone else keep a kind of journal/diary of their children?

55 replies

dinny · 30/05/2007 20:50

Interested as a friend of mine was really surprised I did - I only update it every so often, ie./ if something funny has happened, with a funny quote or if a momentous event has occured (ie. chicken pox )

tell me I'm not alone - can't believe I am.

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Chandra · 30/05/2007 20:55

I have diary where I write the funniest thing he says, I write on it when I think something he says/do deserves to be remembered in the future. But it is not a regular thing (sometimes I also misplace it for weeks )

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ThomCat · 30/05/2007 20:58

Me. I started it for all 3 on the day I found out I was pregnant, keep little accounts of my pregnancy and carry on writing bits every month or so. Each child has their own

In Dd1's I also included a bit where everyone who came to see her for the 1st time signed the book and wrote her a message.

All 3 inc photos of different moments etc and they concentrate on the positive bits not negative, I'll save that for my personal journal they can read when they have children of their own!

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dinny · 30/05/2007 21:01

oooh, Tc - wish I'd done that. feels a bit late t sta now (dd is 5, ds 2.5)

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expatinscotland · 30/05/2007 21:03

I have scrapbook for both girls.

But other than that, I just write my journal to them, and it's a tell-all warts and all that they won't be seeing till they are grown women.

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BaffledByBabyTights · 30/05/2007 21:05

I do them as a series of letters to them, aimed to give them to the children when they have their own first child. They contain,the pregnancy, birth, baptism, baby stuff, toddler stuff etc. I just wanted to let them know what they were like as children as my much loved mother is senile now, and cannot answer any of my questions, so I wanted not only to create a record, but also to write down how much I love them and am proud of them in case i cannot say it to them for as long as I would like to.

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Othersideofthechannel · 30/05/2007 21:07

SIL does this, not as well as ThomCat but it is definitely a diary. She puts the bad bits in as well though!
We have recently started recording the funny sayings for our two.

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Othersideofthechannel · 30/05/2007 21:08

Baffle, that's lovely. I wish my Mum had done something similar as she died before I got pregnant. MIL did a journal of the first year of DH's life and gave it to us to read when we were expecting our first (and her first grandchild). It was so touching.

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lovemybed · 30/05/2007 21:20

dinny i am so jealous of you, dont you dare stop writing in that diary

i always wanted to do this but never got round to it and it breaks my heart to think of all the things that have been forgoten forever.

what a do have is a memory box for each of them with special little things in it, i swear if my house went on fire they would be the first things i grabbed (as well as my dd's i hope )

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ThomCat · 30/05/2007 21:26

Dinny it's not too late.

I guess mine doesn't talk about the negative cos DD1 is only 5. What I really mean is I don't use DD1's journal to cry about her Down's syndrome, I don't want her to read that her her SN's ever made me really sad. I'll sav e those feelings for my personal journal and I'll take a view as to whther she sees that or not later on in life but I may well share it with her NT siblings. That's where I'll be more open about my deep personal emotions and how I cope with the tears and tantrums and my relationship and worries etc.

The girls personal journals will be an honest but happy account of their lives from the day I found out I was pregnant until the day they leave home and I give them their journals.

At the moment it's all about how wonderful they are, how much I love them, how funny they are and so on, where we've been what bugs they've had, where they are developmentally etc.

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dinny · 30/05/2007 21:56

ah, Baffle and TC - ho lovely. I was prompted to do it by my mum, who said "write it all down because, believe me, you will forget".

lovemybed - going to try and get some proper memory boxes started for my two - I have my own 'special' box that I have all their special things - hospital tags, first haircut, scan pics etc. going to make proper boxes. and agree with TC, not too late to start. in fact, tomorrow I think I am going to buy journal for each of them and start to add photos etc.

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jenwa · 30/05/2007 22:08

I was thinking about this just before I came on here tonight. I have a baby journal but thought about getting a diary. Was just reading gloria huniford re her daughter Caren keating and how its lovely to have such fond memories and how important they all are.
Will def go ahead now, its a sign!!!!

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Rhubarb · 30/05/2007 22:10

I keep a scrapbook. I put in photos of their firsts, such as first solids, first steps etc and I put their ages next to them. Then I put in little descriptions of the kind of personalities they have at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years etc. I also put in choice drawings and stuff that signifies something with a little description of it. Now that dd is older she helps me with hers.

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cookieMOMster · 30/05/2007 22:12

I have a diary and a special keepsakes/memory box for things I want to keep. First nappy (sooo tiny!), lock of hair, especially cute romper/outfit etc. I don't update daily, but on a weekly, sometimes monthly basis, depending how much has gone on (dd is 22 mo).

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Rhubarb · 30/05/2007 22:13

Hope you cleaned the nappy first. Ew.

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ja9 · 30/05/2007 22:16

ooh such lovely ideas. i would love to do something like this... i'm just not organised enough tho'.

maybe i'll try...

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ThomCat · 30/05/2007 22:17

I have a box of stuff for each of them too. Stuff from DD1's hospital birth, the eye mask she had to wear under the UV lamp when she was jaundice, the umbilical stumps (!!!!!), their first little body suit and vest each, CD of the no 1 single at the time they were born, the newspaper from the day they were born etc etc etc, .... oh and the most silly thing of all, the pregnancy test kits from when i discovered I was pregnant with them!!!!

They'll be like - 'errrr, thanks Mum'!

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Malaleche · 30/05/2007 22:20

did one for dd1s 1st year, poor dd2 has an empty scrap book and a pile of stuff waiting to be stuck in it and i cant even remember what she did and when....

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uberalice · 30/05/2007 22:26

Not a diary as such, but I've got an archive of all the emails I send, so I can easily go back and search by keyword or date to work out what my boys were doing and when. It's fascinating to look back a few months and realise how far they've come.

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IlanaK · 30/05/2007 22:28

I have a blog that is just about them. I started it because I home ed and it is my way of record keeping. But it will also be nice for them when they are older to look back on it as it has photos, videos etc.

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PizPizPiz · 30/05/2007 22:50

You're not alone, my daughter has a blog. She's 2.8yo. I designed it first for relatives, as they are abroad. Plus she's bilingual so we keep a record of her linguistic progress. It has photos and friends and family can send comments, it's fun

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VerySensibleKbear · 30/05/2007 22:56

I keep a diary for both my children too - started when DD was one and I realised how quickly time had flown and how much I'd forgotten already. I don't write it all the time, sometimes just a chatty bit about what we've done, where we have been or sometimes a deeper bit about how they've made me proud or learnt to swim or something. I like reading back about how I felt when they were babies and when DS was born and shared a room with DD and she used to get in his cot and I could hear them giggling and stuff like that.

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cookieMOMster · 30/05/2007 23:17

lol rhubarb!
(whispers: of course I put in one that was unused)

.... maybe I should have said the last onde of the smallest size....

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cookieMOMster · 30/05/2007 23:18

the last one even

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dinny · 31/05/2007 08:17

TC - I too have saved their respective pg tsts - like ds going to be interested, lol

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mozzybear · 31/05/2007 09:26

DH and I have a book we write in, we got it when I was 3month pg. Have to say we've slowed up since he was born!

Got given one of those baby record books but haven't written in it. Find some of the questions/stuff you are sposed to write stupid ( My name is it is special because.... well mummy liked it, what am I going to say???

I do like reading back though, its amazing what you forget!

Actually dinny, you've encouraged me to find it and write something in it! TA