Journaling

First, thank you to my dear friend over at http://hurdles-lifelovefamily.blogspot.com for this idea.

Our 6 year old, Molly, has had some escalating impulsiveness lately.  I won't go into the full details, but we found out she's been hurt a lot more than we originally realized.  She is also a chattering kid.  She talks non-stop and it is usually about NOTHING!  Although we've explained to her that the more you talk, the less people listen, the point wasn't getting across.

Enter journal....  the other night we had a long talk about life, right and wrong, lying, "sex" (in the context a 6 year old needs to understand), and good and bad touch.  She did well with the talk and had good questions.  I told her any time she needs to talk we will talk more about those serious issues.  Then I presented her our journal.  I told her it was a special place that she can I can write to one another.  I told her daddy and Layla do not have a journal like she and I do, so it will be our special place to tell one another how we feel and what is on our minds.  She LOVED it.  I mean, she was beaming with excitement!

We even worked out our own "secret" phrase between us to let one another know we left a note.  In general, I told her we're not allowed to keep secrets, but this was more of a special thing than a secret.  So our phrase is, "Heart Me Love"... hey she's 6 and it was her idea!

Her first entry was:  "I feel loved.  I love you mommy.  You are a very good mommy.  I love you, MK."  Then a HUGE heart at the bottom.    This is also a good exercise for her to practice reading and writing.

My reply was:  "Dear MK, I love you so much!  I hope you feel better inside soon so that you can be happy!  Love, Mommy".

I will see what new message awaits me tomorrow.  She asked if she could take it to school, and considering how nervous and anxious she gets, I am hoping her teacher will give her a 5-10 minute period where she can write me during the day to help her get out her feelings.   I sent the teacher a note to see if she will let us do that. 

So thanks again for the idea!  I think it's going to work out well for her.