Paper journaling is fast becoming a retro activity. Call me a sentimentalist, but nothing compares to putting words in a book with paper pages, with an inked instrument, as opposed to thumbing them
onto a screen.
Journaling–A New Family Habit
Becoming a journaling family is not as difficult as one might think. Since our first trip to Europe, the girls have kept journals. Part of the summer trip prep is buying a new summer journal for each kid. Each would reflect the child’s personality. The journal choices change with age from Miss
Kitty covers to leather. Summers don’t have academic demands, so keeping a journal is a good way to keep their minds from atrophying and giving them a creative writing outlet that is normally absent.
Daily Does It
Make it a daily habit. We usually have them write just before they go to sleep. It’s a good way to wind down from a full day. When they were too young to write, they would tell me about their day, I would scribe, they would illustrate. The girls would complain about it, up until they realized it was a non-negotiable. It became part of their evening routine.
Expressive Nuances
Paper journals allow for a variation of expression. Even if the words are exactly the same in both mediums, when they are handwritten you can often tell the mood of the writer by the slant, size, and personality of the letters. You doodle, underline, write sloppy fast in an urgency to get it all down. Your computer can’t add that second or third underlining for emphasis. Paper journals allow for added illustrations, crumple corners.
Bound-up
Keeping a paper journal means your thoughts are already bound, the minute you put them down. Yes, they are book worthy, your thoughts. The girls now have a little library with a book to represent each of their summers. A little peek into who they were while they were growing up. I’ve been told that they would be their fire-grabbers (the thing you choose to save if the house was on fire).
Do It
I know it sounds like a disciplinary nightmare, but the initial diligence is well worth it. The kids will not only experience and process the entire vacation differently, but they will have keepsakes of
their travels that they will absolutely treasure for the rest of their lives.