Dear Diary

Did you write in a journal or diary when you were growing up? Maybe you still journal? I wasn't a big talker as a child, so writing became my best friend. Back then I wrote poetry and short stories. Later I learned I could keep my thoughts in one safe place, also known as a diary. From that point forward I have always kept a diary or journal and when I flip through the pages of the one I kept in college or the one from my early married days - I'm really glad I saw the value, for me, in "journaling".

Recently I came across Jay's diary in one of her clothing drawers. My first instinct was to flip that baby open and find a comfy spot to read all-things-Jay. Then I remembered how I felt when I found out my mom read MY diary - betrayed by my own thoughts but more so, a real invasion on my mom's part! Especially because she knew I was a good kid, it wasn't as though she was going to find out some revealing secret about me! The same held true, in my mind, as I eyed Jay's diary: Jay's a great kid, her diary really wasn't going to tell me much more than she already has. So I promptly pushed the drawer closed and finished purging the outgrown clothing.

I can't say I'll be so kind later in Jay's life. As we get older we become more aware of the world we live in and how we fit into it. If she ever becomes secretive with me or I feel suspicious of what she's up to, Jay can BANK on having her diary read by her dear old mom. It's not cool, it's not respectable, but desperate times definitely call for desperate measures and I, my friends, am the kinda mom who will go the distance to find out what needs to be found out!

Fortunately for Jay, breaking into her diary would require more skill than I have. There is a voice recognition code, she can write in invisible ink (only she can read what she writes!), and, unlike me, she is smart enough to know people are nosy - so she makes full use of all of her safety gadgets. Maybe as she gets older I'll tell her what my mom told me, Writing it is proof - don't write it if you don't want to own up to it. Very true, but can take some of the fun out of keeping a diary - or, for that matter - breaking in and READING it!