This is the third and final post in my organization series. I thought I would do a quick post on my baby books and holiday journals. These came about a little by accident but I love what they’ve become so much!
I originally started my holiday journals as way to use some of the journals I kept buying and never using because they were “too nice”. I am one those people who finds a fresh new journal with completely unused pages a little intimidating. Endless possibilities, what if I chose the wrong one!
I decided several years ago that I would start using some of these pristine new journals and one of the ways I did so was to start my holiday journals.
I have two of these journals, they started as a way to plan my holidays, with to do lists and bucket lists etc. They have slowly turned into a wonderful history of my family's important days together.
Holiday Journal
My first holiday journal tracks all of the holidays we celebrate throughout the year. Every new year I do a list of highlights and lowlights from the previous year, and then write out our goals and wishes for the year to come. I love looking back on this section, it is such a great way to remember how much we have really accomplished and overcome over the years.
Following that I do a page for each holiday, big and small, that we celebrate throughout the year as well as any special events, like baptisms or birthdays. I start with a todo list or bucket list that I can check off as I accomplish it and then I do a short write up summarizing how the day went at the end. This came about fairly organically, but I really love looking back through these and seeing memories of our holidays and occasions.
Christmas journal
Even though I do a small write up in my holiday journal for Christmas, because it is a big holiday for us I have started a separate journal for Christmas only.
I usually set up my journal around September of each year, filling in the headings and making what lists I can in advance. I start with a list of who we have to buy for and a list of the fun things we like to do, and traditions we try to make time for. I add a wish list for everyone we are shopping for and a baking/cooking list to help plan all the holiday baking and meals. I use these lists to make a grocery list as well.
Once Christmas is over I write out the highlights and all our memories from that year, as well as what worked and what we loved, and what we wish we had done that we didn’t.
It is super useful for planning the next year and is also wonderful to look back on later.
Baby journals
This one was unexpected, and I don’t know how well it will age. I received a journal as a baby gift when my son was born to write about the pregnancy and the birth and life with a new baby. As any mom can attest, being a first time mom with a brand new baby does not exactly leave a lot of time or mental energy for journaling. Instead I wrote down some memories from my pregnancy, cravings and such, and I wrote down the details I could remember from the birth. Then this sat on my desk ignored for months and months.
I ended up deciding that what I would do is something similar to my holiday journals. Every year just after his birthday I write an entry about how the previous year went, things he learned and how he changed, as well as some details about his birthday party. So far this is going very well and I have started one for my daughter also.
Hopefully I will be able to keep this up as I think it will be a wonderful keepsake when they are older.
Baby books
I have baby books for both my kiddos for the first year of their life. I have found the best way to stay on top of this is to mark my planner to remember to fill it out each month. Then I keep track of any milestones in my planner and transfer them to the baby book once a month with their weight and height. I also print photos each month at home to include. This worked very well with my son and I am hopeful I am able to keep it up with my daughter. We will see, you know what they say about second children, with their half finished baby books and photos that never make it to albums!
I have always been terrible at journaling. What I have discovered is, even though I cannot think of anything to say in a daily journal and rarely remember to write daily, I can still journal in a way that is meaningful to myself and my family. I never meant for these to turn into the wonderful keepsakes that they have become, but I am so very glad that they have. We really enjoy looking back at past years from time to time and seeing how much has changed.
That’s it, my quick and simple organization strategies for running my home as a stay at home mom, with two littles. I will try to do an update on these at some point, once I return to work, and likely again once my kiddos are school age, but for now, these are the systems that work for us.
I hope you enjoyed this short series, you can find the two earlier posts here and here if you are interested.
Until next time, be safe and be kind!