As much as I would love to take credit for the following wonderful idea, it was actually my husband who came up with it. A few months ago he came home from work with a beautiful leather-bound journal and a fancy pen. When I asked him what it was for, he said he wanted to start writing down what the girls said every night when we asked them the question “What was your favorite part of the day?” This turned out to be one of the best ideas he’s ever had.
Simple Pleasures
We have been doing this pretty consistently for the past two months and it has already given me so many beautiful reminders. On days when I plan big fun outings to the zoo, or fancy meals for dinner, my daughter will often say that her favorite part of the day was simply snuggling in bed and watching a show together after a nap, or drawing with chalk in the driveway. Just yesterday she told me her favorite part of the entire day was holding her baby sister’s hands and helping her to walk.
Connection
It also offers an amazing opportunity to connect together as a family, and focus on the positives of our days, instead of dwelling on what might have gone wrong. I am able to hear about things that are important to my husband that I maybe didn’t notice myself. My youngest is 15 months old, so while she can’t quite speak in sentences yet, we all have a fun time thinking back on the things that seemed to make her the happiest throughout the day (and most of the time it ends up being some form of food).
Memories
The biggest benefit of writing these things down, is that I’m able to look back and remember specific instances. It’s only been a few months, but I have already had the opportunity to look back and say “oh wow, that was a fun memory!”. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to have these written down when my children are grown.
Take my advice, and get yourself a notebook. Heck, it can even be random post-it notes stored into a shoebox. Spend the time together as a family and write down the highlights of the day. We all know how quickly that time flies.
Story by Alyssa Dock for BlueWaterParent.com.
