How to Begin Your Own Family Diary

Our family is big on tradition. We don't just celebrate customs from our ancestors, we occasionally instigate new traditions, and encourage our children to continue what we've set into motion. One of my favorites is an annual activity my husband started when our children were in elementary school. It was so successful and rewarding for our family, I often urge newlyweds or young parents to embrace the idea.

I call it our Christmas Diary, yet those who do not celebrate Christmas might consider it a New Year's Diary. Each year, on Christmas evening, the members of our family sits down and writes an entry in our family's Christmas Diary.

The book we use was a scrapbook, purchased at Hallmark, and decorated with Christmas artwork. Inside were blank pages. There are other book formats that would work equally as well, such as a three ring binder or a bound book with blank pages.

Normally, each family member fills up a page. We weren't sure how the book was going to turn out, or what we'd each write. At first our young children would tell of their Christmas gifts received, or what they did for the holidays. But as the years went by, something else emerged. It was a family diary, told from the perspective of each family member.

One year our son declared his love of rap music, the next year his distain for the sound. Lists of toys received were replaced by memorable events from the year or a comment of a family member's passing, a mention of a new friend or special love.

I began letting my husband make his entry first, which I read before making my own. It allowed me to add more family information, without repeating what he had written. Each year I sit down and read the prior entries, and it is almost like reading the story of my family's life. Written one year, one page, one family member, at a time.

When our children were grown adults, and living on their own, I prepared for them each a Christmas photo album. In it I included a copy of the family Christmas Diary. And when our son announced his engagement, I prepared a new Christmas Diary, for him and his fiance.

The family diary takes a minimal amount of time each year to complete. Yet, it preserves a priceless account of a family's history, that can be passed down from generation to generation. Is it time for your family to begin its own diary?