Remembering the First Day of School

Now that school has begun for most of you, have you taken the time to record what the beginning of this year was like. I have learned, the hard way, that I must write down my memories or I won't remember them when I want to share them. For each of my children I bought a blank book when they were young. I try to write down special events or things they said, so I can share this with them and their children in years to come. A week after school began this year, I found a "few" spare moments and wrote down my memories of the following. (I'm sure you have your own list.)

- Getting ready for school

- First day of school

- Our tradition of eating ice cream for breakfast

- The joys of everyone having their own alarm clock, letting them choose their wake-up time, & getting to breakfast on time :-)

- Transition from our August break to school routine - for some it wasn't easy

- End of Summer Lunch with Mom -

Every year I take each child out for lunch by themself - just mom & child. We spend the afternoon buying things that child needs for the school. When they attended a private school, we spent the afternoon buying school supplies. Now we buy new shoes, new backpack, new lamp for their room . . . whatever THAT child needs. My shopping list is different for each child. You may wonder why I share this with you. As I was growing up, my mom took me to lunch every year before school started and then we shopped for school supplies. That SPECIAL MEMORY is something I will always treasure. In fact I can still remember sitting in the Walgreens restarurant in the mall and eating lunch. When we went to the mall I always wanted to eat there because everyone could see you as they passed the restaurant.

Do you have some SPECIAL MEMORIES or TRADITIONS that your child will carry with them after they leave home? Take the time right now to write those down and describe the time you spend together (not just a listing of activities).

For those of you who scrapbook, you can use these "written memories" to journal on your pages. Your child will truly appreciate the heartfelt journaling, instead of the usual list of events. The memories of school will be a treasure.

If you need help journaling your memories or your child's memories, try the Journaler's Handbook and Journaler's Sidekick. Tracy White will spurr you on to memorable journaling. Read all about it HERE

Kerry