What the flip am I supposed to do with this?

The kids are growing up so fast and  life is so hectic with one kid now working and three kids on the swim team, one doing baseball, one doing t-ball, and me working every night.

I leave the house at 4: 15, just as the kids are getting home, and by the time I get  home from practice it’s time to get everyone into bed.

This doesn’t give us an opportunity to sit down as a family at all during the week, and it really doesn’t give me any time to do anything with the kids or even really talk to them very much.

And I’ve been feeling like I’m not connecting with them at all.

The weekends aren’t much better between multiple baseball games and coaching swim meets.

And then a couple weeks ago, I randomly came across this blog post about how to connect with your kids individually, and it suggested keeping a journal with each child.

I really liked the idea. A lot.

Bedtime has also been a little bit crazy around here.

My husband has been working late and/or working really long days, and so I’ve been doing most of bedtime myself.

The routine right now is to put Number 6 and 7 into bed, and then after they are settled in, take care of Number 3, 4, and 5.

Lately Number 3, 4 and 5 have been kind of tooly during bedtime, and this seemed like it might also help me out in that department.

So I got the three of them a journal. I didn’t buy new ones — I just used ones we had here at the house already.

In each one on the first page I wrote this note:

Dear Number ___,

This is our special journal. We can use it to write whatever we want to each other. It is a special journal just for the two of us, and no one other than you and I will read it. If you ever have any questions or you just want to tell me about  your day, you can write it in here. When you are done, put it under my pillow and I will write back to you.

What are two things you really love about yourself? I can’t wait to read your thoughts!

XOXO ~

Mommy

I put the journals under their pillows without telling them.

When I was putting Number 6 and 7 into bed, I figured this would not only serve as a way for us to connect, but give them something quiet to do while they were waiting for me.

I was interested to see what their reactions would be.

When I came into their room, Number 4 had a big smile on her face.

“Thank you, Mommy!” she said to me.

Number 5 was beside herself with excitement.

“MOMMY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!” she squealed.

Then Number 3 looked at me, holding his journal up in the air and  said,   “WHAT THE FLIP AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS THING?”

He asked if he had to write in it.

I told him he didn’t and that I just thought it was something he might enjoy.

So it was a big hit with two out of three.

When I came into the office after everyone was in bed, I saw this:

Number 5 was pretty psyched.

It’s been three days now since we started the journals.

The girls are really enjoying them.

And so am I.

It’s taking a little discipline on my part. I have to remember to save a couple minutes every day to respond.

But it is giving us a little time to connect each day, which was really the purpose.

Hopefully our schedules won’t always be so crazy. Hopefully, before too long, we will have more time and opportunities to connect during the week beyond our secret journal pages.

But even when that day comes, I’m hoping they still want to write to me.

Because I think I might be enjoying this even more than they are.

And to be honest, I’m also secretly hoping that one day, when I look under my pillow, I’ll see Number 3’s journal on the top of the pile.