I started a new journal this weekend and I'm really excited about it. This isn't my typical journal. I always come up with random thoughts of different things I want to do with my kids someday; whether it be different teaching techniques, games, traditions, or whatever my head thinks of, I know that when the time comes to do those things I won't remember so I decided I should start writing them down. A lot of things I think of would be for when they're older so for sure I won't remember by that time.
An example of something that will go in this journal is I remember when I was a cheerleader in jr high I carpooled with another girl on the squad after practice. After a full day of school and then an hour or two of cheer practice I would always be STARVING when I got home. The girl's mom that I carpooled with always brought her something to eat on the ride home from practice and I thought that was a good idea and wanted to do that for my kids someday. It's something kind of silly, but I would have LOVED it if my mom brought me something to eat when she picked me up from school.
Another thing that I think would be fun to do (probably with just my girls) is start a book club when they're young and as their reading skills advance so will the books we read. I think it's one thing to read to your kids, but it's different to call it a book club and actually discuss the books we read. I think our book club will be a little different than most. Rather than read the book before we meet, we'll probably read the book together as part of our club.
With that I also thought it would be fun to do a recipe club where once a month we do a theme and each of us make a dish pertaining to that theme such as chinese food or finger foods. That way my kids can learn how to cook and prepare a variety of dishes instead of be like me when they get married and only really know how to chop lettuce and dice tomatoes (which is all my mom ever asked us to help with in the kitchen)!
I think mommy/son and daddy/daughter dates would be fun. With that I remember when I was younger how much I would have loved to get to spend a day just my mom and me, but with three other sisters that NEVER happened. There was one time I got to go to a crafting fair with my mom and I loved it. I don't remember why my other sisters didn't come, but I was so glad to have that time alone with my mom and not have to share her attention. That's why I think we should have parent/child dates where we get to spend one on one time with each other.
These are just a few of the memories I have of things I wanted to do once I was a mom. Now the fun part is I get to go through all of my past journals and see if anything sparks a memory for other things that I can do. I have so many ideas already, but I want to go back and read my journals because obviously my thinking has changed and I might think something is a good idea, but a child might think other wise. Certain things are more important than others when you're little and it's easy to forget so I want to read my journals to try and remember how I felt about things like my first day of jr high, boys, hobbies, friends, needs, wants, and so on.
I always kept journals because I felt like they were for my own benefit. Now I can see that by having them I am able to go back and learn from them. Hopefully they will help me be a better mom and when I'm frustrated that my child thinks they should start wearing make-up when they're, to me, still too young, I can read and remember how frustrated I was when I was their age and had to be 13 to wear make-up which was half way through the second semester of my 7th grade year and how everyone noticed and teased me about it. That's the idea anyway. It probably won't help any, but here's hoping!
