A Mother's Day Journal

With Mother's Day coming up I wanted to take a minute to talk about my Mom. She's amazing and has highly influenced both the person I am now and the creation of this blog. Mom has a degree in Children's Literature and read to us constantly as kids. She was always willing to take us to the library to find the right book and continues to pass on reading suggestions to this day. She did all sorts of crafts and science experiments with us and only kind of got mad when I splatter paint all over my bedroom curtains. When I was in elementary school she would let me grab paint or wallpaper sample to play with...never as many as I wanted but a few. She made the dresses for all the school dances I went to and my wedding dress. She taught me basic sewing when I was younger and has been really helpful answering questions and giving advice as I've started getting into more complicated projects more recently. Earlier this week she spent several hours helping me with a sewing project for Monday's post.

Monday Sneak Peek

Last year for Mother's Day I decided to make a shared journal for my Mom and I. The idea was for me to get to know her a little better, have a place to ask questions about our family history, and also advice about various situations. My original intent was to try to trade at least once a month but sometimes one or the other of us is too busy to write. But in the past year we have each written in it six times so I think that's still good. Our topics jumped around a bit covering things like how my parents met, ideas we have for home remodels, and favorite childhood books. Check the bottom of this post for other ideas about shared family journals and writing prompts and ideas.

 I used composition book I found at Walmart with a brown leather look cover. I had wanted to find a photo of the two of us but had trouble finding one. (Most of our pictures have the whole family, not just us.) I finally settled on using photos with us each as kids with birthday cake. The cover is decorated with scrapbook papers and elements related to sewing and books, hobbies we have in common. The whole thing is covered with clear contact paper to protect it and keep the papers from peeling off.


Family Journal Idea Links:
Lil Journal Project
Dear Daughter Diary- Howdoesshe.com
Family Circle Diary- Shyloh Belnap

Suggestions for Questions and Prompts:
30 Things my Kids Should Know About Me
37 Questions to Ask Your Grandparents
In Depth Personal History- This is me challenge