by Cindy Moy
When my oldest daughter, JJ, first came home from China, my mom told me to write often in her baby book.
“You think you’ll remember, but you won’t,” she said. Filling in her baby book was often left until moments had passed and many were forgotten.
Then a friend mentioned a mom who kept a daily journal for her young daughter. Some entries were quite short but no matter what, every day she wrote a sentence or two about what happened in her daughter’s day.
For some reason this carried a lot less pressure than the keepsake baby book.
I bought a blank journal and started filling in the days. Some days I wrote only a sentence. (‘JJ had a dentist appointment.’) Some days took a page or two.
Over the years the ritual evolved. The journals are now personalized through an online site. On Christmas each daughter gets a new journal for the upcoming year. Each journal cover has the year as well as the age, grade and photos of my girls.
Each girl took over her own journal writing when she turned 13.
The girls will occasionally sit down and read through their old journals and I’m amazed at how much would have been lost without those written pages.
I’ve been given other interesting advice over the years:
- If it’s got tires or testicles it’s bound to give you trouble.
- You're only helpless when your nail polish is wet and you could still pull a trigger if you had to.
- People would make time for you if they wanted to.
Now I’d like to hear from you. In the app’s Discussion Board, share with your Hot Flash Sisters the best advice you’ve ever received.
Did you follow it?
Why or why not?
Cindy Moy is the creator of the Hot Flash Sisters app. She's written books, magazine articles, blog posts and even legal encyclopedias. She's never kept a journal for herself.