My Girls' Diaries

MC's loose tooth finally let go a few minutes before bedtime. And then the magic words that made me panic: 'Mama, the tooth fairy is sure to come tonight, yipeee!'

I usually have small gifts stored in my cabinet, but since we just transferred to a new house; the girls have found all of them as they helped me pack almost everything.

Although in a panic mode, I was also thinking of giving MC a gift that would steer her in the path of enjoying learning (she's being a bit difficult when it comes to studying and doing her homework). While standing in front of my office desk searching for possible a gift, I saw a hand painted notebook that was given by a good friend for those times when I used to religiously write a daily journal.

That was the aha moment. I found the tooth fairy gift and giving that notebook as a diary might inspire her to start enjoying 'words.' To correctly point her to the right direction, the 'tooth fairy' even left her a short message encouraging her to write on the diary everyday on just about anything she wants noted down. I left the notebook/diary under her pillow while she was sleeping.

The following morning, she excitedly showed us her diary and the message from the tooth fairy. And that day, MC started her diary. She continues to write, almost daily; even draws about her experiences in her diary.

Of course, IC wanted to have a diary from the tooth fairy, too. She took care of that one by announcing that her loose tooth would be out within that day. Therefore, she started wiggling it until it came off. Good thing I have enough notebooks around.

Although first grader IC is just learning to read and write (they havent even finished the whole German alphabet yet!); she simply loved having a diary. She wrote and wrote; and drew just about anything in her diary. Sometimes IC and MC would sit together and write in their diaries.

The result? My girls even encouraged me to renew my love for diary-writing especially when I showed them the volumes of diaries I kept in the storeroom which I said they could read when they are old enough (that made them curious!). Now, the three of us would sometimes sit together to write. No copying, I would usually tease them.

Well, MC enjoys diary writing though translating it to enjoying her composition homeworks with the same intensity might take time. At least, although she doesnt realize it, she's practicing composition writing! As for IC, when you look into her diary, she just writes the words as she says them to herself and as she hears them being said. But since she's also using drawings to express herself, then her stories are also being documented.

And I am also glad to go back to diary writing. It is a different therapy and nobody could read them until I say yes :-D