A Girl's Newest Best Friend

As you may have read, we had a bit of an issue here last night requiring me to postpone some of my plans for the blog.  My wonderful 7 year old daughter P1, was AWOL last night for about a half an hour.  Needless to say, I was going out of my mind.  Thankfully, her father got home just as I began looking so we could look for her together.  It turned out that she had simply gone down the street to a classmate’s home but she had done so without permission or my knowledge, something that is unacceptable.  This is on the tail of many other challenges we are having with her these days which at times make me question our relationship with her, her savvy, and what is left of my mind!  All of this is a work in progress to be sure.  And, as many 7 year old apparently feel these days, we are just So MEAN! lol

Thankfully, I have just had the opportunity to review a wonderful thing – Jill Schoenberg’s incredible book Journal Buddies.   They are actual journals, designed with kids in mind to help boost and strengthen their self-esteem. This isn’t your ordinary journal of blank pages – oh no! This journal is much, much more! It’s packed from the front cover with motivating quotes; focus words for the day, buddy journaling and all kinds of uplifting and motivating activities.

One of the best parts of the journal is the rules.  There are three of them:

Criticism and put-downs are not allowed.

Do your best to complete the journal.

Have fun!

Sounds good to me!  The concept is that each time you journal do it with a friend or loved one. The first task in each section is to write three things about each other that you like.  Each Journal Buddies section gives a concept word you can work with such as joy, beauty, confidence and proud. Your girls can write something about the concept or draw a picture that represents it, thus widening the appropriate age group for this. Craft supplies can be used to illustrate entries kind of like scrap booking. There is also a part where they can actually journal for themselves and their friend/buddy something to motivate them when they are feeling down.  By sharing with friends (a girl can involve a pet, family member or an imaginary friend too) their positive traits, it helps girls feel better about themselves and build/reinforce their positive self-image that is so crucial at this age especially.

Journal Buddies by Jill Schoenberg

I cannot thank Jill Schoenberg enough for creating this incredible book.   Journal Buddies looks like it has the potential to help P1 with her self expression and self awareness, both of which should help resolve some of our challenges we are going through together. This is a wonderful approach to difficult age. These journals are a powerful tool to help your child build a more positive outlook along with an all-important dose of healthy self-esteem.

There is also a boys version available as well and both may be purchased through the Journal Buddies Website. When you purchase the journal you’ll receive an author signed copy, over $83 in bonus gifts, a 45 day money-back guarantee and a free pack of journaling supplies, a nice package for $16.95. You can also purchase an unsigned copy from Amazon.

A special thank you goes to the Family Review Network for this wonderful opportunity.