THE DAILY CONNECTION JOURNAL
The newest addition to the Pokidots collection takes a new angle on the parent-child relationship: the Daily Connection journal is more than a journal for kids and adolescents: it is a tool to empower them while nurturing their relationship with and trust in you, the parent or caregiver.
HOW DOES IT DO THAT?
This unique journal really works to strengthen the bond with your kids/adolescents (I’d say 5 years old and up), through daily check-ins accompanied by positive affirmations and prompts. The three daily connections suggested invite the family (or part of it) to pause and take a moment to regroup and repeat the encouraging daily affirmations.
Each journal is divided into 3 themed parts of 20 days each. Each of the 60 days highlights a wonderful growth-mindset* statement that the kids get to repeat during each daily connection. The statements have been mindfully and lovingly crafted to bring out the best in our children of any age, and remind them of their boundless potential. I love each and every page.
*Look for the book MINDSET, The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, PhD.
You, as a parent, are also involved in the Daily Connection Journal
This journal has done wonders for us and our girls. It’s not just a journal you give your kids and forget about—and who knows if they ever go past Day 2. It’s a journal for kids, but it also involves you as a parent:
Each day offers a new affirmation for kids (affirmations that are just as powerful for adults!) and your child is encouraged, by you, to say the affirmation. There are pages for 3 “daily connections” each day: morning, afternoon, and evening. So ideally, 3 times a day, you sit down for 2-5 minutes with your child, they say the affirmation, and they fill in the 2-3 prompts of that connection. The idea then is for your child to read to you what they wrote, which might spark some questions or conversations.
In the afternoon connection, one of the prompts is meant to be filled by the parent/adult. I usually use this to express my gratitude for my children, tell them that I love them, or say something related to what they wrote on that page or what they did that day. My girls keep my parent note to themselves, but they do read their other answers aloud.
Do it whenever you want to
The Daily Connection Journal is not dated, so you can do it whenever you feel like it. I recommend making some time for it especially on busy days; when the hours seem to fly by, because it is meant to encourage you to pause for just a few minutes.
If you do the morning connection but for any reason you couldn’t get to the afternoon or evening connection, don’t worry about it, however, don’t skip pages! So what I would recommend is to pick up the next day in the afternoon. This is because even though prompts are repeated, others come only once, and I wouldn’t want you to miss those! Some prompts have produced beautiful conversations with me and the kids, and even conversations between my kids.
So go at your own pace, but don’t miss any connections.
The Daily Connection Journal is organized into 3 parts of 20 days each. The school year edition’s 3 parts are:
Let the joy of learning fill my heart
The affirmations reminding kids during the school year how wonderful and important learning is are key to keep the learning momentum and curiosity going. Following this theme, the prompts are related to their favorite subjects, teachers, and topics.
Find my inner perseverance
Closer to the middle of the year, kids might need to be reminded to persevere as the year gets a little harder. Affirmations and prompts in the second half part of the journal support that in an encouraging and empowering way.
Remember my calm in the chaos
The end of the school year tends to be chaotic, filled with end-of-year activities and events. It was during that time that I created the Daily Connection Journal (summer break edition—coming soon) and it transformed the chaos of our days. Affirmations and prompts in the final part of the journal invite the child to find their calm when they need it.
It fills my heart to hear my girls on random days say an affirmation from the journal that they had a few days before.
MORE REASONS WHY IT’S GOOD
The Daily Connection Journal reminds you to take a break as a family (or 1 child-1 parent), and connect for a couple of minutes.
Sparks a conversation you wouldn’t have had without the journal. Sometimes the daily affirmation starts a meaningful conversation, before even getting to the prompts.
Brings up topics or events that your child might otherwise not have thought of sharing.
Creates a habit of pausing and reflecting on small things that happen during the day.
Invites calm by tracing the cover line art before starting, or at any point during the day as needed by both parent and child!
Nurtures the parent-child relationship with 3 pauses a day where your child is the only focus.
Empowers child and parent with 60 powerful and intentional affirmations that serve as valuable reminders that we are awesome.
Focuses on an attitude of gratitude while embracing all emotions without judgment.
The Daily Connection Journal was mindfully created for you to have a better relationship with your children.
STILL UNSURE?
“My teenager is too cool to do this with me. Nothing will make her sit and write this, let alone let me see it.”
Some kids, older kids perhaps, might be resistant to fill out the journal with a parent. Don’t pressure them, of course, but nudge them gently by assuring them that the prompts don’t go so deep; they are just an excuse to pause during the day, not necessarily open up and share their wildest secrets :) Allow them to roll their eyes at some affirmations, and have an open mind! Teenagers might need their own space, but connecting with us is also something they want to do, though they might choose not to admit it.
“My kid hates writing! Asking him to journal is wishful thinking.”
Other kids might not want to write and that’s completely okay. Since it’s a parent-child activity, the parent or adult can ask the questions and write the answer for them. Maybe they will come around and want to write their own responses.
“We don’t have time for this, unfortunately. Our schedule is packed!”
More parents than I would have thought have said this to me during markets, and what I say to them is “if you think you don’t have time for this, that’s when you probably need it most.”
The key is consistency
For this journal to have the impact it can have on your relationship with your child, and like anything worth pursuing, it requires consistency and the desire to do it. This responsibility will be more on the parent or adult, at least in the beginning. You have to want to sit down yourself and listen to what your child is sharing, and encourage them to say the affirmations and think a little more about their responses to the prompts. These are crucial days for our bond with our children, and I think, regardless of how old your children are, this bond should be nurtured right now.
NOTE ABOUT THE CalmLines COVER ART BY CARRIANNE NACKERS
Trace the solid black line on the cover and find calm as you slowly create the shape of the hummingbird. Use as a tool to calm your mind and pause between the day and your journal time.
Hi there! I am Carrianne Nackers, the artist behind The Happy Apricot, and I am on a mission to help people tap into their inner peace through my art. I believe that art has the power to make us feel happy, calm, and inspired. My continuous line illustrations invite all of us to slow down, appreciate the simple things in life, and find our own unique path to inner peace. During the pandemic, anxiety and stress consumed me, but art, especially CalmLines illustrations, became my sanctuary, restoring my inner peace and providing a place to rest when life felt overwhelming. My work is a reminder that beauty can be found in the everyday. And when we take the time to notice the beauty around us, we tap into a source of inner peace that is always there for us.
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO FILL OUT THE DAILY FAMILY CONNECTION JOURNAL
FROM MY KIDS TO YOURS—ABOUT FILLING OUT THE DAILY CONNECTION JOURNAL :)
Hi! This is Laurie and Leina, and here's how we've been using our journals:
After writing your name on the first page, flip to Part 1 and read what the first 20 days will be about. We like to split the paragraph in two so each one of us gets a turn to read half of it aloud but that’s optional.
Flip to Day 1: Some time around breakfast—or really the first chance we get in the day—we open our journals to the first page of the day. We both read the daily affirmation out loud, then we fill out the first page of the day and the "Morning connection" page.
When we are done writing, we read what we wrote aloud (or quietly) to our mom and/or dad*, including the daily affirmation again. Sometimes we all start talking about what we wrote or about the topic in general, and that’s fun.
In the "Afternoon connection," after school, we do the same thing, and mom or dad* write us a note in the "Adult space." We like to keep their note to ourselves, but we read the rest of what we wrote, including the affirmation. We like to take turns and read them aloud, so we could talk about some stuff if we want to.
We fill out the "Evening connection" before we brush our teeth in the evening, and we read what we wrote again.
Repeat on Day 2, and each day until the end. If you skip days, it’s ok. Sometimes we skip the weekends because we already spend more time as a family so we don’t need to “connect” as much.
Remember to copy your favorite affirmations in the last lined pages of the journal! We like doing this and comparing our notes :)
We are really loving it and hope you will too!
Laurie (10) and Leina (8).
*Mom/dad can also be any grown-up with whom you're doing the Connection Journal! A family member, teacher, family friend, etc.
