The Mother of All Parenting Blogs

The Mother of All
Parenting Blogs

Ann Douglas is a journalist and award-winning author of 28 books, including The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, The Mother of All Baby Books, The Mother of All Toddler Books, The Mother of All Parenting Books, Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler, Mealtime Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler, and Body Talk: The Straight Facts About Fitness, Nutrition, and Feeling Great About Yourself.

Ann and her husband Neil live in Peterborough with their four children, ages 10 through 20. You can find out more about Ann by visiting her website.

Best Summer Ever: Day 3

July 3
Start Keeping a Notebook

Inspiration tends to strike when we're at our most relaxed.

Start keeping a notebook so your best ideas don't go AWOL on you this summer.

A blank notebook can be a bit intimidating. Once you've written something in it, it becomes an old friend.

So start out by listing ten things you really want to do this summer.

Then figure out what you need to do right now to start making each of those things happen.

TIP: If you have a hard time translating your to do lists into action, you might want to pick up a copy of David Allen's very practical and helpful time management book Getting Things Done. It's one of my favorites.

Related:

Flickr: Flickr is a great place to connect with people who are passionate about pretty much anything, including keeping a notebook. Two of the groups devoted to the subject include Notebookism and How to Wreck a Journal. You might also want to take a look at Mike Rohde's thoroughly inspiring Sketchnotes set.

Moleskinerie.com: A creative and inspiring website devoted to the art of keeping a notebook. There is also a Moleskinerie group on Flickr. (The notebook brand of choice of devotees of Moleskinerie is, of course, the Moleskine.)

Allen and Unwin: Keeping a Notebook: Excerpt from Making Stories by Kate Grenville and Sue Woolfe

Ranablog.com: A copy of the classic essay "On Keeping a Notebook" by Joan Didion (.pdf).

Photo Credit: DvortyGirl, 2008. (Flickr: Creative Commons)

Posted by Ann Douglas at 01:56:48 PM in Books, Current Affairs, modern families, parenting, Web/Tech, Weblogs

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Another place to get started on journaling/keeping notebook is a great website: www.themomoirproject.com with writing starts posted on the site on a regular basis. Cori Howard is a well-known writer and journalist as well.

Posted by: Michelle Tice | July 06, 2009 at 05:48 PM

Great suggestion, Michelle. Thank you for posting your comment. Does anyone else have any other favorite sites/resources they'd like to recommend to other parents?

Posted by: Ann Douglas | July 07, 2009 at 09:07 PM

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