Alison Curtis: Keeping a journal really helps my daughter to figure important things out 

Over the past number of years, there has been a trend, and a market, for adults to journal. To have journals of gratitude and to have an outlet to express feelings with the hope that we are maintaining better mental health.

There are so many books on the market aimed at people who want to journal and use it as part of their mindfulness routine.

I personally haven’t tried it so I won’t knock it, and I do have a few friends who find it really helpful and relaxing.

This past week, a new journaling book came across my desk at work, but what caught my attention is that it is aimed at children.

Published by simplyhappykids.co.uk it is a journal that stars a fictional character called Sunny who encourages kids to keep track of their feelings and thoughts and do daily affirmations.

I brought it home over the weekend and gave it to my daughter, Joan, to read and explore.

The book starts with a guide for parents recommending us to spend at least 10 minutes a day with our kids completing the exercises in the book. The aim is to help our children develop habits to help them maintain a healthy mind and become good communicators.

On the second page of the book is Sunny’s tips which are simply lovely. They include encouraging children to ‘have respect and be kind to everyone they meet’’, to ‘be unique’, and the wise words of ‘if you don’t try you will never know!”

Joan instantly loved the journal, and the fact that it was hers to write in and read as she wants.

The first exercise in the book is for each child to share their own tips with Sunny, so I left Joan alone to write hers. It warmed my heart to read what she wrote.

• Call your family every day. 
• Be kind to elders in particular. 
• Be very kind to animals.  

Next the journal goes on to guide kids to describe their characteristics, which I think is a wonderful exercise to help kids be proud of who they are. The journal also reinforces that we are all individuals, another core value I think kids should have.

The journal motivates kids to do daily affirmations. Something I did with Joan a lot when she was younger but have forgotten to do regularity now that she is older, even though it is still an important thing to do.

But it takes it a step further in encouraging kids to remember to do this themselves, to stand in front of the mirror each day and say three things that are positive. I love this idea and feel that if it becomes part of daily habits when children are young, it is only going to serve them well when they grow up.

Sometimes children might find it hard to find the words to describe themselves or statements that will make them feel good about themselves, and on page seven of the journal, there is a list of several really wonderful things kids could say.

I love that the statements have very specific meanings so that each child will be able to identify with any number of them. Examples like ‘I learn from mistakes’, ‘I can do anything I put my mind to’, and ‘I love to try new things.’

As parents we can say these things to them, support them, and build them up, but what is truly empowering is to place this control in our own children’s hands. To teach them to have an impact on their own mood, to mind their own mental health, and to give them the tools to achieve that.

Since we brought the journal home, Joan has been picking it up each day and doing a few of the exercises. I can see she really enjoys it and am hopeful it is helping her learn to express herself in a positive and confident way.