No, you won't find me in the scrapbook aisle at Michael's craft store. And no, I'm not looking for a women's event where you can. But I have a friend who redefined it for me.
This weekend we wrap up our 3-week series, BLINK. To help resource parents we opened a Parent Exchange on our website, allowing parents to share "best practices", ask questions and encourage each other. My friend, Tom Klopfenstein - whom I admire as a Christ-follower, a husband and dad in a blended family - shared this "scrapbooking" idea. Still have young kids at home? Check this out from Tom:
My children, Ben and Michele were 9 and 8 when I married Nancy. She had Jimmy age 11 and Caitlin age 9. During the summers when they were all together I had them each keep a journal/ scrapbook. These are not the fancy scrapbooks people make, but more of a messy journal of their own making. I would suggest things for them to write about. Over the course of four summers they filled their books with photos, stickers, drawings, lists and stories. They wrote about their vacations, fights with siblings and dreams.
They listed their favorites: song, singer, actor, movie, TV show, book, Bible verse, color, ice cream, meal, game, toy, etc.
They wrote a letter to “my grown up self”, Advice to kids, Advice to parents, and Things I like about myself.
Sentence completions: I want… I like… I will never… I wish I… I can’t wait until… When I grow up… I wish people would…I am thankful for…I wish people understood this about me…
I had their grandparents, cousins and friends write notes to them in their books, and Nancy and I each wrote them a letter.They wrote about their experiences at Camp Adventure, every movie we saw and each roller coaster they went on. They wrote hilarious short stories, sometimes about the same event.
By the end of the 4th summer they started to complain when I’d bring the books out, so one time I paid them a penny per word. Michele made $4.38, Jimmy made 15 cents.
One time the boys got into a big argument with the girls. I had them each write a page describing what happened and how they could have handled it better. Each was an angel in their own account.
I took the books and hid them away for about 9 years. This past Christmas I brought them out after dinner and gave them to each one. The kids, all in their 20’s now, took turns reading from their books. We laughed so hard. We relived special parts of their childhood.
They all agreed with Michele who said, “I didn’t always enjoy writing in it, but I am so making my kids do this!”
