Genius Project Idea: The "Magical Thinking Jar"
Every so often an idea comes along that hits me in a gazzam sort of way. Here’s the deal, on my Mac computer screen right now, I have all these little sticky notes describing baby and child “moments”–little anecdotes and milestones I hope will find their way to a scrapbook when I get some time. So when I saw a post over on the beautiful blog Inchmark about an idea for a “magical thinking jar,” I was totally sold:
“Children say the funniest things, yet all too often, I seem to forget them after a day or two,” writes blogger Brooke Reynolds. “I’ll start telling my husband.. “C said the funniest thing…” and then I can’t quite remember. Or I get it a little mixed up and it’s not nearly as funny as I remember. So I started writing down the funnier moments of the day. I keep a jar on my desk, and when the kids say something particularly worthy of recording, I grab a scrap of paper (phone bill, envelope, chopstick holder.. whatever is lying around) and I quickly jot it down. The jar is filling up quickly, and when I’m having a below average day, I reach in and pull out a quote.. and suddenly I’m laughing and running to hug my little comedians.”
Love this.
[Photo: Brooke Reynolds]
Jenny
Pretty cool post. I just found your site and wanted to say
that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case
I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon!
Lecia/A Day that is Dessert
I loved this post too – brilliant – I remember when Brooke did it…
Jodi
Great idea-wish i had done that:(
Mimi
Me too! I’m going to start a jar myself! Fabulous idea.
Lynn (The Actors Diet)
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing
Jenn
Love this idea! Wish I had done it when my guy was small. I was always forgetting what he said or did.
We did something very similar for my son’s teachers when we moved. We gave each of his 10 teachers (K-4 had 1 a year, 5th had 2 and 6th had 3) a journal jar. Most of his teachers were big fans of journaling so we filled a canning jar (pint for K-4, quart for 5 & 6) with journal questions. For example, what is your favorite color and why? Or what food do you absolutely hate? What color is rain? What smell triggers a memory for you?
Anyway, We even gave one teacher (yes, she was a fav: I had her for 2nd grade way back when and then she had my son for Kindergarten) 2 jars: one for her and one for her class.
Needless to say, we love this idea!
Shannon (Milkandcuddles)
My daughter is 14 months old, and just starting to have a sense of humor. This is a super idea! I am always thinking I need to go write things in her baby book- and this is a great “in the moment” solution!
Thanks!