Want to enjoy every second with your little one? One way to lean into that is to use a few nursery gratitude journal prompts, which makes keeping this record an easy process.
(The watercolor clip art on this page can be found in my Etsy Shop.)
Start Easy
Use Gratitude Journal Prompts You Love
Add Artwork to Printable Journal Pages
Journaling Helps You Remember the Moment Exactly
Imagine the Conversation
Reframe and Encourage = More Strength
Gratitude Sets the Tone
What’s Next?
Start Easy
I’ve raised 4 children over a span of 40 years.
Lots of those days were not sit-down-and-journal-for-an-hour days.
But all of those days needed the lift that gratitude can bring.
Here’s a sample nursery journaling idea. Change it up to fit you!
- Pick out one of these quick journal prompts and copy it in your blank journal.
- Copy that gratitude prompt into your schedule or phone. This will help you remember to jot down just 1 or 2 sentences that describe what you want to remember.
- You can do this once a week, everyday; whatever works for you. (The key is consistency, not being rigid.)
- Here’s the part you don’t want to miss: once a day, once a week, (you decide when) take 10 minutes to sit down with your child and those 1 or 2 sentences you jotted down.
- Hint: bedtime can be perfect for this.
- Write the sentences in your journal.
- Ask yourself:
- What were you feeling when you wrote this? What do you want to tell your child about this moment some day?
- Just writing down those 2 things along with your prompt means you will record a history you will treasure your entire life. A history you can share with your child as they grow.
- As you do this talk with your child about what you’re writing. If they’re sleeping, softly pray it over them.
- This is one way to build a relationship with your future teen while they’re still in diapers. Honestly, this is so important. You will get used to having a consistent and comfortable time together which you both will come to love and depend on.
Priceless.
Do you love reading good books? Take a look at how to create DIY handmade bookmarks in lots of different styles.
Use Gratitude Journal Prompts You Love
Some of these free printable nursery gratitude journaling prompts will work for you. And some won’t.
And that’s ok.
Some of them will spark other prompts in your mind and heart. Use those!
If a prompt is not working for you, let it go. There are no rules here.
Ask yourself what your goal is in doing this. Lean into that.
And if you can’t think of even 1 or 2 sentences for a day’s nursery gratitude journal prompt, no worries.
Just try again tomorrow.
Add Artwork to Printable Journal Pages
You can certainly write your gratitude journal entries in a simple blank journal.
But, hey, I’m an artist…I love me some design on my journaling pages!
You can purchase any number of journals with beautiful artwork, but it’s also very easy to create your own.
You can even coordinate your journal with your baby’s nursery.
That’s why I love, love, love printables. Use one for fast and easy nursery wall art.
And adjust the same file to use as clip art on your journal cover.
Add again to printable journal pages.
You can even put your gratitude prompts on your pages and print out saving you time each day.
Journaling Helps You Remember the Moment Exactly
You can do gratitude journals as physical books or you can do them digitally. Either way, adding a photo now and again really ups the joy of your nursery gratitude journal.
Adding photos you’ve taken on your phone to your digital journal is super easy, of course.
And adding printed photos to your physical journal is pretty straightforward, too.
Either print them at home (which means it’s easy to adjust their size to fit your journal spaces) or make it a habit to upload to your favorite online printer and print out a once a week or month and then toss into your journal.
If you’re a scrapbooker, you can get fancy at this point, but I can assure you that after 40 years of mothering, I’m thrilled when I open a journal and find just a few old photos.
It really is all you need unless you enjoy doing more.
Imagine the Conversation
Another great way to use the gratitude journal prompts is to treat them as a conversation with your child.
We talked earlier about actually conversing with your child while you journal.
But maybe that’s just not working for you.
I get it. Schedules and children’s temperaments often don’t align.
So have your convos with your little one but do it on your own time. Write down the words you want your child to hear from you in your nursery journal. Then make sure you share those with him or her on a regular basis at more convenient times.
Every one of my children begged to hear stories about themselves as they grew. Even into adulthood.
This is an easy way to prep for those happy conversations.
Such great memories!
Reframe and Encourage = More Strength
Some days are not going to go well. We all know this.
Nursery gratitude journaling definitely can help with those times.
I loved having some space to re-examine the day. To get a different perspective on events and conversations and even on how I was feeling in the moment.
Gratitude is the perfect way to reframe difficult moments.
That doesn’t mean pretending things are ok when they’re not.
It does mean looking for ways to make lemonade out of life’s lemons.
Challenging? Absolutely. The rewards are more strength and resiliency, things I wanted my children (and me!) to develop.
Gratitude has that power. That’s why we love it so much.
Gratitude Sets the Tone
One of the best parts about journaling is how it lets us gain perspective.
I learned that I set the tone for my children’s days and so it was important for me to set my own tone as well.
Gratitude journaling for myself helped that!
And then, once I learned that I could let those powerful ideas jump from my private journaling pages to my home’s walls where those fantastic ideas could help all of us.
Well, I was hooked.
What’s Next?
Looking for more ways to use printable art to enhance or strengthen your life?
Here’s another idea you might consider. Using sentiments you find helpful to uplift, teach or just bring joy. Click on the graphic below and read all about it.
Enjoy!
