My Tree and My Kids: Journaling to Capture the Wonder and Growth of Both

“My Tree” Nature Journal

This spring, I came across the “My Tree” nature journaling idea on our Nature Calendar from wonderfilledays.com. After a long season that focused on the loss of trees (read about that here), I jumped at the opportunity for us to celebrate the trees that withstood the winds of the derecho.

So, in March, four of my kids (the homeschooled four) and I each selected a tree on our property, forever more to be referred to as “My Tree.” (That means there are now five “My Trees” on our property. Yes, it is confusing, but we make it work.) We sketched the tree and recorded observations about height, bark, branches, buds, etc.  In April we did the same thing and again in May. After only three months it is amazing to see the transformation of each of our trees. They were completely bare in March but are now full of leaves. They have already bloomed, been pollinated, and now bear their “fruit.” All of that in just three months! 

As I observe my kids observing their trees, I think about how fast they change as well. By the end of a year of tree observing they will be different kiddos then when they started. Some intellectual growth will be evident in their journal pages—more sophisticated observations, richer vocabulary, improved drawing skills, better spelling (I am only cautiously hopeful about that last one.) Physical changes will of course be easy to spot, and emotional and spiritual growth, though perhaps more difficult to identify, will be just as dramatic and profound. 

Kids, just like trees, change a lot in a year.

“Palmer’s Journal”

Thirteen years ago, when my oldest was two, I started keeping a journal. It was actually just a Word document titled “Palmer’s  Journal.” At first each entry was simply a dated  list of bullet points naming things he liked or funny things he said:

Your favorite food is “beeps” (grapes)…

You giggle and say “pico Haddie” (cut the pickle Haddie)..

You love to go to the park and play “baseball” in the yard...

Eventually I shifted to longer prose, noting in paragraph form the things he learned, tried, enjoyed, or struggled with during a particular season. I’d include funny statements, discipline challenges, and major highlights—anything that could one day be a precious bit of history brought back to life. I started similar documents for each of the kids when they were born, or, in some cases, before they were even born.

I have never doubted that these journals are a good thing to do; the problem lies in the actual doing. The “soon” of “I should write in their journals soon…” has a way of stretching on and on. I just checked and it has been about a year since I have written in any of them. Ugh.

But now I have the trees to remind me. 

Each month, as I observe the kids observing their trees, I can be reminded to observe the kids—to note the changes, to celebrate the growth, to appreciate all the ways God is teaching and stretching and molding them into the young men and the young woman He created them to be.

And I can write it down. Maybe not every month. But more than once a year would be good.

Because it is true; trees and kids change a lot in a year.