Journals & Image via Target

I am not a scrapbooking mama. I loved the hobby throughout high school and even a bit through college. But upon entering motherhood that was one activity I reluctantly let go. Scrapbooking or memory keeping of any form has been the source of much mom guilt over the years but at this point I can say with relief that I am at peace with the fact that I will most likely never be a scrapbooker again. (Although I still admire the craft and love to follow along creatives who do it. A few favorites: Ali Edwards | Elise Blaha Cripe’s Project Life Documentation)

However, I am as sentimental as they come. And I want to desperately remember all the tiniest of moments that make up our days. I want to bottle up all of their being little so I can remember forever the way they said certain words, their funny eating habits, their favorite tshirt, or what our bedtime routine looked like when they were 3, 5 and 8. You know, all those insignificant things that are just ‘normal’ for the season that we mistakenly think will last forever. Having parented for 8 years, one thing that has proven to be true is how quickly these seasons pass. From one day to the next, one season ends and another begins. And I don’t want to forget.

So for a few years I had the idea to keep a journal for my littles. Just a simple, sweet way for me to document the day-to-day while writing to them and praying over them as their mama.

I finally did it. I bought 3 different color journals and started each with:

Dear ________,
I want to write snippets of your life here so I never forget and you get a chance to remember. And to simply pray God’s grace over you. 
Love, mama

I want it to be that simple. Not a thing for me to feel guilty over. Just a few lines here and there about something I want to remember or I want to tell them or pray over them. I don’t do it every day or even every week, but the journals live beside my Bible where I read and pray every morning so if something comes to mind I just pull out that child’s journal and I jot down a few lines.

I needed something simple and manageable. And this mama’s heart needed a way to be reminded of the grace that is parenting. In the midst of the little years, it’s just to easy to enter survival mode and not see the grace abounding right before our eyes. Writing down these simple little joys has provided an opportunity to stop in the midst of crazy and be truly grateful for the lives right in front of me. I think I have re-fallen in love with my littles.

And this mama’s heart desperately wanted a way to let her children know when they all grown up how much the every day, though crazy at times, meant to her.

Whether you are a writer or scrapbooker or neither, find a simple way that works for you to not only document the normal of today but to be reminded of the grace right in front of you.

Is this something you would like to do? Or does this sound crazy overwhelming? Have you done anything like this in the past? If so, I would love to hear how it’s gone for you!