Of all the writing genres there are, journal writing is my favorite. I started writing a journal when I was 12 years old. As a young woman, I wrote all about my dreams and aspirations (along with who I thought was hot!). It was a great way to keep track of my goals, and vent the frustrations of growing up. That was 30 years ago. Now, nine children and seven journals later, I'm still writing. I started a brand new journal at the turn of the century, and looking back at the other journals, I was surprised at the details of my life. There were some things I had forgotten about. For example, I wrote an entry of what it felt like the first time my oldest kicked me while I was carrying her in my womb. People forget about the details of their lives. I am grateful I took the time to write about the little things.

There are some days I am motivated to record all the funny things that everyone did that day in our whole family. It takes a lot of time, but is worth it for all the memories recorded. Then there are others days I don't care to write at all (I don't like those days.). I came up with an idea on how to keep an even keel. Instead of overwhelming myself with the idea of writing all the details every day for an hour, I think to myself, I will only write for five minutes every other day and leave it at that. If I write more, fine; if I don't, that's fine, too.

I like to record the funny things that my children have done. When I am depressed, those writings can really cheer me up. For example, I once recorded the complaints of my children, whose ages spanned from 3 to 15. I had run to the store for a few minutes and when I came back, this is what I heard:

"Nobody is doing school work…Isaac (13) didn't want to cut the lawn…Tasha and Jena (both 11) were cheating at kickball…Tasha didn't want to cut the lawn (they were supposed to take turns)…Sarah (15) hit Caleb (8)…Caleb hit her back…Tasha hit Sarah with her PEZ dispenser…Isaac locked Caleb in the closet…Naomi (14) is touching everyone's stuff…Everyone is yelling at Naomi…Naomi was walking backwards and ran into Sarah…Naomi shot Lydia (3) with a rubber band."

That entry really made me laugh. It's so typical of what children will say about each other when they are annoyed. I never would have remembered all those details if I hadn't written them down when they happened. My life is full and my writing reflects that. I don't always record all the mundane things I do, but I write about what is important to me at the time. Sometimes hanging up bed sheets on a cool windy day is important to me, so I write about it. Sometimes swinging gently in the hammock under the trees with my three-year-old is important to me, so I write about that. After I do my weekly biking, sometimes I'll write my thoughts for the morning. One of the best things about writing is that I'll always have the pages of my thoughts kept safe for reading on another day.

Not only are there snippets of my children's life in my journal, but my goals for the year and my spiritual insights are recorded there, as well. Writing down my feelings about world events and what is important to me in my life is therapeutic. I feel much better after a good half-hour of writing, and I can face the day of peanut butter and jelly faces, a sink full of dirty dishes, and homework. I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's in the world, and I have the writings in my journal to prove it.