Recording memories and milestones

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I am curious. Do any of you keep journals or planners that record your family’s or your own memories and milestones? Or do you only have a Home Management Binder that lists your to-do list with your household chores, menu plans and appointment tracker plus all the important documents and contacts filed and contacts?

I don’t have either. 🙁

A Calendar Planner

Well I had, and still have a calendar planner. I use both a paper calendar (drives Henson nuts) and Google Calendar. A calendar planner is necessary because I need to know when and where, I or the children, are supposed to be. But other than that, nothing. Oh! I also have a homeschool planner only because without it, homeschool would never happened. But a planner or journal to record memories and milestones? No.

Baby Books, Journals and Scrapbooks

I admire those who do up baby books (I never did it even when I had one or two babies) or scrapbook or even journal (even my prayer journal is sketchy 🙁 ) Looking back at my days as a mother of many small children, I guess many days were just days of survival. Indeed, some most of the days have passed me by in a blur! Especially the days between child three and four as they were about 15 months apart. For those with real twins and Irish twins (two different babies born in one calendar year), and no help, I salute you!!!

Sleep Deprivation

Being sleep deprived was and still is a running theme in my life. Previously from the babies and toddlers and now, thanks to shifting hormones. As an aside, I have been wondering just how long I would sleep if I had no responsibility. No one to prepare breakfast for, no school to run and no blog to write. 🙂 Even on holidays, I have to haul myself up because the children would want to do a million things and more! No sleeping in, mama!

BTW, did you see the photo I posted on our Building Up Moms Facebook Page recently? All mothers will nod their heads in agreement!

Life happened. Although I do regret not keeping memories and milestones recorded, it is what it is when you have a large family, homeschool and have no outside help.

The Need to Record

But I have realised that without intentionally keeping a record of our milestones and memories, there is no record of them for posterity. And truth be told, I am starting to forget! Yes, chronic sleep deprivation does affect our ability to remember! You know my posts on our NS Experience and Homeschooling the secondary school years? I wrote them down for my own sake! It was not only to encourage those approaching these life events but a record of our journey so that I will not forget!

Do Not Forget

We are a forgetful people, even when not sleep deprived. In Exodus, the book describing Israel’s deliverance from Egypt by God, it is recorded that the Egyptians, were afraid of the Israelites. So they “ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.” Exodus 1:13-14. 

Yet the Israelites forgot the hard life they endured. Instead, they said that they “sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full” (Exodus 16:3)! They forgot the awesome acts of God, of Him parting the Red Sea to deliver them from Egypt, a miracle which we are still talking about today.

So, yes, I think it is necessary to record things down because we will forget. Then our children and their children after them will know of the wonderful work of God in our lives! Depending on a failing memory is not the way to go.

But Record on What?

Sometime in October, I came across the Brilliant Life Planner. While the inside pages were beautiful did not like the covers. So I looked around online for other options.

I then came across the Living Well Spending Less Planner. Wow! I really liked it. It was similar to the Brilliant Life Planner in that it was both a day planner and a goal setting planner, all rolled in one. But I preferred the clean lines and cheery colours of the LWSL Planner and was even willing to splurge on it until I checked the shipping cost. To have it shipped to Singapore costs almost as much as the planner! Ridiculous. So I scouted around some more and found lots and lots of planners!

Planners Galore!

Do you know that there are planner addicts?! There are also loads of “Plan With Me” videos on Youtube where you watch someone plan their planner! Like, what?!

Some of the planners that appealed to me include the Passion Planner, the Plum Paper Planner (you can customise your own cover!), the Erin Condren Life Planner and the Emily Ley Simplified Planner.

But…they all cost a bomb simply because they are heavy. So shipping cost + planner price = crazy amount. Not worth it, in my opinion. I know there are people who are willing to spend that kind of money. But I just couldn’t. I continued to look for alternatives. I was determined to get one!

DIY a Planner

At first, I thought I would just DIY it. I had watched enough Youtube videos and researched enough planners to know what I wanted. I thought I could mix and match planner pages from Etsy sellers and/or download free planner pages. Or I could use “altered composition notebooks” (check Youtube for tutorials on it. These people are just AMAZING!).

But the huge amount of work to DIY it and the cost of printing and binding was still a lot more than what I was willing to pay. Plus they were usually just planners alone.

Bullet Journal

Enter the Bullet Journal. Bingo! According to the creator, Ryder Carroll, all you need to bullet journal is a notebook and a pen. And it is true. Once you have mastered the art of using it, you can choose to make it as beautiful and colourful as you want. Or you can keep it simple and clean, the way it was created to be used.

It was perfect for me. Remember, I haven’t ever documented anything consistently. So I was wary of investing in an expensive planner or journal and then feel guilty should I abandon it halfway. I wanted to know if it would work for me. So I recycled an old notebook lying around the house and used it like a Bullet Journal. It worked!

Why I Like Bullet Journalling

Cheapest option – It is much cheaper than any other planner journal out there. Any notebook will do although the Leuchtturm 1917 is recommended. Next, I really like the idea that it is a free form journal/planner. I can start any time and am not bound by the pages of a printed planner. I don’t even have to stick to one format. Each week/month can see a totally different format and layout if I choose it to be so.

Free form layout and format also means no more wasted planner pages! Or feeling guilty because I had no motivation to fill up the pages during unmotivated days. I can start and stop any time I like and pick it up when I am ready.

Watch the video above to understand what I mean. Want more? Visit Boho Berry’s blog and/or Youtube channel. A Tiny Ray of Sunshine has a list of minimalist Bullet Journalists on her blog. So if you don’t think you are the creative type, these minimalist bullet journalists will assure you that you don’t have to watercolour every page!

I also like that it is an all-in-one journal-planner. I can put my to-do list, and record memories and milestones all in ONE notebook.

What Do I Use?

As I had mentioned, I was recycling an old spiral notebook. But for 2017, I am using a Monologue notebook from Popular Bookstore (they were 50% off, so I got it for $13 instead of $26!). So far, besides the Yearly Overview, Future, Monthly and Weekly logs, I have a Habit Tracker, Books to Read, Quotes to Keep, Homeschool Information, Productivity Tips, and Monthly Memories collections. I aim not to be overly ambitious so as to be able to maintain it.

Why Not Go Digital?

For one thing, I like seeing ink on paper. Yeah, old school, or just old! For another, I find that it is not as convenient as people make it out to be. Have you read 11 Reasons You Should Ditch Your Smartphone for a Planner? I totally agree! So it is paper planners and journals for me!

Do You Keep Journals and Planners?

How about you? How do you record milestones and memories in your family? Do you use those beautiful planners? Or perhaps you are already a Bullet Journal user?

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