|
Date Books: As a Memory Journal?
When shaping the young minds of our youth, there is always
one constant: the need for remembrance.
Sure, recording when your baby first learns how to roll over on their
own, can sleep through the night and smiles are wonderful memories. It is noticeable, however, little else is
encouraged in terms of what’s going on during a child’s early development.
For example, what parental challenges were faced? What lessons did both parent and child
learn? How long did it take to learn
these lessons? Who was the most
prominent teacher, the parent or the child?
(It is surprising how much a parent learns from their child from day
one.)
 Most often when keeping journals, only the cute baby memories
and milestones are recorded. It seems to
be habitual to only keep track of the good things, like giving the illusion that
every child leads a picture perfect life.
Never was there a moment with a parent thought their child was ill
because they were spoiling their clothes several times a day only to realize
this a commonality among nursing babies.
Never was there a moment when their child’s hair fell out all of a sudden
only to realize this happens more often than it doesn’t. Never, that is, if these parents are living
in the fantasy worlds often created in these journals.
When it comes time for children to be parents, themselves,
wouldn’t it be a wonderful gift for them to have some idea of what challenges to
expect? A sort of . . . instruction
manual? A sort of . . . what to expect
and when to expect it resource? Parents
dream of when their children will eventually become parents; and isn’t also
every parent’s dream that their children are better prepared?
That’s where the date books come in. A date book is useful in addition to or
instead of the first year calendars and beyond into each year thereafter. A traditional journal is good, but a date
book in one step better in that it keeps the discipline of more frequent entries
and is helpful for those who don’t like to write at length.
 Remember to keep it real.
This is a challenge for most parents, but the idea is to create both a
memory and a resource. Some believe it’s
easier to read one or more of the thousands of childcare and development books
on the market and that’s fine. There’s a
lot of truth in how useful those tools are.
Others will testify to the time constraint issues they face, which is
also fine. This project isn’t for
everyone. There are a chosen few,
though, willing to dedicate the time and energy necessary to create this “its
normal when this happens” memory preservation and resourceful tool.
It isn’t necessary to buy ornate child themed date
books. This can get costly if you’re not
careful and, as every parent knows, it’s already expensive enough providing a
child’s basic needs. Buy something with
a hard cover so it will last through a year’s worth of page turning and will
stand up through later years of reflection.
Covering it over with fabric or sturdy craft paper is always an
alternative if limited selections are available based upon budgeting
circumstances.
|
© Copyright 2000/2001/2002. All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
