Day 6

A friend of mine told me she reads my blog daily, she is a bit younger and she has no children, but she purchased a journal and is keeping a record of our friendship. I would have never thought to do this for a friend. So if you have no children write a letter to you husband or a good friend and tell them how you felt when you first met them.
  I want to tell you about another journal book called Just between YOU and ME it is an interactive journal for parents and their children it's by Tracy Rumpf
the following is from the first page in this book...
"Dear Mom and Dad,
 Have you ever asked your child a question and gotten no response? Have you found at times that communicating with your tween or teenager is next to impossible? I think that at one time or another, all parents have been in this situation.
  When my ten-year old son started to have some problems in school, He did not want to talk to me about it. As much as it broke my heart that he wouldn't share his feelings with me, I knew I had to find a way to help him communicate his feelings. I bought a notebook and started writing down a few general questions about his feelings. We started writing back and forth  to each other and before I knew it, he was opening up to me and telling me what was going on with him.
  We began a journaling ritual. When I was finished writing. I would put the notebook on my son's bed, and when he was finished writing he would put the notebook on my nightstand. We never verbally spoke about it; it was like we were part of a secret club and it was really fun. I began to do the same with my ten-year old daughter, and I now feel that I have a good handle on what is going on in my children's lives. They start middle school this year, and in today's world, all parents need to find a way to communicate with their kids.
 Here's how to use the journal:
Don't feel the need to write in it every day
Typically in our house, we journal when there are problems, but we also journal about positive things. At least once a week I make sure to write how proud I am of them and point out the good things they are doing.
  Between YOU and ME is not only a way for you to communicate with your child, but it will also be a keepsake that you will have forever of the written thoughts and feelings between you and your child. What a wonderful gift to have."
  So there you have it- it also has a letter to the child about how the book works.
I married a man who had an 11 year old son when I moved in, he was very excepting of me-but there arose many subjects over the course of the time living with him that I was not sure how to approach and my husband was not approaching and when he did he was yelling.  I used facebook as my journal I wrote to him in the email area and told him we would not talk about it just write, it worked and I learned a lot of his fears,
and what he was doing and not doing.
Well happy posting
Today's letter can be to your teenager or tween and if they are still small you can write to them about what they will be as a tween or teenager
You may want to include in your letter to your tween or teenager the following:
*Promise yourself to be strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind
*To be just an entusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
*To give so much time to the improvement of yourself and limit criticizing others
Some great websites
www.helpmyteen.com
www.allaboutyou.com
www.theantidrug.com
www.talkingwithkids.org
www.kidshealth.org
www.byparents-forparents.com
www.familiesaretalking.org
www.iparenting.com
Have fun and remember to share them with me.