Question | Should We Encourage Kids to Journal?

by Jennifer Cooper, posted on February 11th, 2013 in Parenting

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This weekend, as Dave and I were putting our basement back together after the long renovation, I ran across an old journal of mine—from when I was eight years old. Crazy. It featured a mix of short stories, musings, things I wanted to make and hopes for the future. Basically, it was a blog.

I showed it to the kids. There was one entry in particular my daughter found intriguing. The title: When I Grow Up. It was a list of things I’d teach my daughter when I became a mom. After we read it, I turned to Ellie and asked “How am I doing so far?” “Good!” she said. Then we both laughed and I’m pretty sure the universe folded in on itself. It was kind of surreal.

"I will talk to her when she needs to be listened to." I would have made a terrible therapist.

“After this entry, I have a blank page labeled “notes when I’m older” at the top. Clearly, I was thinking ahead”

During our reorganizing, I also ran across a journal from my early 20s. Did you ever see the movie Tiny Furniture? In it, Lena Dunham’s character, Aura, reads her mother’s journals from when she was Aura’s age. They were filled with insecurities like, “Please let me get to my goal weight of 125 and be happy once I’m there.” Yeah, mine was like that. What do I want to do with my life? My job stresses me out. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I’m on the other side of my 30s now and in such a different place. So I pitched it.

But looking back at the journal from my childhood made me think I should encourage the kids to start a journal of their own.

What do you think? Do you journal? How about your kids? Are there any kid journals out there I should take a look at?

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10 Responses to “Question | Should We Encourage Kids to Journal?”

Caroline Says:
February 11th, 2013 at 3:47 pm

Okay. So first of all–how INCREDIBLE is it that you and Ellie had the moment? So amazing. Life stands still in those moments. :)

And yes, I DO think we should encourage our kids to journal. It’s good for the soul to purge our thoughts. I also had a journal in my 20′s (and HORRIBLE$ artwork–mainly collage paintings with crappy poetry) that I TOO threw away! Ha! But I’m convinced that that artwork and those journals helped me grow.

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Jennifer Cooper Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Ha! My 20s journal had stick figure drawings in it. I kid you not. So embarrassing.

I talked to the kids after school about starting their own journal and Jonah said, “But I don’t want to be a blogger when I grow up.” Sigh… ;)

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Carla Says:
February 11th, 2013 at 4:22 pm

How cool that you got that moment with your daughter, AMAZING!
I had a fairly rough childhood and journaling was always a way for me to sort out the things that bothered me. It was very sporadic and really just a way to overcome tough stuff. I never thought to write down the good stuff. Not until a few years ago. With little “bad” stuff to report I started a gratitude journal, which I love. And this year I started one of those one line a day jobs. I’m not a great archivist or journal keeper, that’s part of why I blog! Anyway, to answer your question, yes I think little ones should journal. If not regularly, than just when they need to make sense of something difficult or remember something wonderful.

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Jennifer Cooper Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
I love the idea of having them write when they need to make sense of something or remember something wonderful. Both of those would make excellent prompts to get them writing.

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Miranda Makes Says:
February 11th, 2013 at 4:54 pm

Okay, this kind of made me cry. How wonderful that you were able to share that with Ellie!

I don’t have my childhood journals, but chose to do the same with my college ones recently. Threw ‘em out without even reading them.

I think journaling is great for kids. I also think that when mine are old enough, I might help them start their own private blogs. I just love the blog format!

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Jennifer Cooper Reply:
February 11th, 2013 at 8:34 pm
I know. It was so… I don’t know, surreal? I wonder if 8 year old me somehow knew something about the future.

I love the blog format too. I think a private blog would be great!

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Kristen M. Says:
February 11th, 2013 at 9:58 pm

Our kids have little baskets in their beds filled with books that they can read before falling asleep. One night, after many pleas for paper and crayons and, and, and….My husband pulled out two small blank notebooks for the kids. We gave them a notebook and pencil and told them to have at it! They were young…4 and 5…but started to use it for drawing and eventually words and sentences. The notebooks are amazing keepsakes at this point. I wrote the date at the beginning and then the date again when the notebook fills up. Not exactly private journals yet, but a great (accidental) beginning of a writing habit!

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Deborah Says:
February 12th, 2013 at 12:38 am

I think definitely encouraging journaling for our kids is a must. Really writing in any capacity is awesome for kids and I would take any and all ways they would like to write. I love that she has your journal from when you were a kid! So special and what a memory!

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Melanie Says:
February 13th, 2013 at 8:20 pm

Jen, this is so cool. I have a couple of diaries from elementary school too. The first one was from second grade! I’m so glad I have them. I have ones from my 20s, my first marriage, and my 30s too. I haven’t looked through them in a long time, but I’m sure it would be entertaining.

I’m definitely going to encourage Nathaniel to journal, if nothing else as an outlet. I used to use journaling that way and I always felt better after getting it all “out there.”

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Paige :: Approaching Joy Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 10:59 am

I remember one (particularly long) road trip my family took where my mom encouraged us to actively journal out our trip. Draw what we saw, write about it, etc. I remember being… apathetic towards this particular type of journaling.
But a “diary”? A place where I could be alone and say anything I wanted to say (which didn’t happen much in public since I was painfully shy)? That was my sweet spot that nurtured my love of writing for many many years. I’m so glad you had such a great memory with your daughter. Thanks for sharing.

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