Make believe ... it´s a diary gives parents the opportunity to open the door to communication with their children by forming the habit of conversing and listening to the ideas and concerns of their children from a very young age. The objective is to create a bond between parents and children to promote communication, understanding and creativity.

The diary consists of generic phrases that the child has to complete. For example: “Today was special because..............................”. The father or mother will read this phrase to the child and he/she will “dictate” the response to the parent who will fill in the diary.

In “writing” his diary, the child learns to express and structure his thoughts, define his likes and dislikes, evaluate his feelings and, most important, open up to his parents. At the same time he is aware that his parents are with him, that they listen to him and support him.

On the other hand, parents can dedicate a special and specific time to the child, enter into his world, discover his tastes, preferences, fears and problems and collaborate with him to make the diary a joint and festive creation. At the end of the year they will have a complete record of their child´s life in 2005 as told by the protagonist himself.

The content of Make believe ... it´s a diary is simple and basic. Its pages change colour with the seasons. Every day of the year appears with the complete date. National holidays and some international days are indicated so that the parent can explain their importance if he judges them pertinent (e.g., Internacional Children´s Day).

The phases of the moon appear in each page so that the child can look out the window and confirm it before going to bed.

Every day has a space for the weather sticker to indicate rain, snow, clouds or sun. At the end of each day, the child will evaluate what kind of day he has had with a sticker which is smiling, neutral or angry/sad. The space on the right of the page is so that the child can plastically describe his day: drawing, colouring, pasting photos, invitations, tickets, stickers, etc. with the collaboration of the father or mother who will stimulate him and provide the material he needs to carry out his works of art.

The phrases are practically the same for every day. What will change are the child´s answers as he begins experimenting new realities, sensations and likes or dislikes. Children of this age like to anticipate what is coming – it makes them secure to know what is going to happen. The repetition of the phrases will facilitate the child´s answers and provide him with the security of knowing what is expected of him.

Moreover, the child is at the age where he can begin to express himself with meaning. The repetitive order of the phrases helps him acquire a logical structure of expression that allows him to put his ideas in order and answer each question with a coherent answer. As time goes by, with the help of his parent, his answers will be more developed. If he says that what he like most about today was the leaves that had fallen in the park, the parent could go deeper and ask him more specific questions or comment that he also likes the fallen leaves and, when he was a young boy, he used to jump in the piles of fallen leaves in the park. By comparing likes or fears parent and child will feel closer. The child loves this special ritual between himself and his parent: it makes him feel important to be listened to without any interference.

For the busy parent the diary provides the ideal script to begin communicating with this little person who is beginning his life. Over the years, this ritual should turn into parent/child conversations that will come naturally since the child is used to communicating with his parents from a very early age.

Make believe ... it´s a diary for 2004

A pilot diary was done in Portugal for the year 2004 and the success was enormous. The diary appeared in all the media: television, radio, newspapers and magazines.

Portuguese teachers regarding Make believe ... it´s a diary

• “Children love to be listened to”
• “If you do this (the diary) for an entire year you can then sit down and relax. You won´t have any more problems with your children.”
• “It helps children talk about the changes in their lives, their new friends, what they feel and have difficulty expressing if no one asks them.”
• “All parents should do this diary with their children. That way I wouldn´t have to overcome the problems of some children that come from their parents’ lack of attention.”

Make believe ... it´s a diary for 2005

The diary was published in Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. In Spain as well as Portugal the reception was magnificent, with coverage by all the media and great interest shown by educational as well as psychological centers.

Esta fue la presentación del libro en la FNAC de Colombo (Lisboa), que corrió a cargo del Dr. Sampaio, prestigioso psiquiatra infantil y hermano del presidente de la República, y la Dra. Eanes, presidenta del Instituto de Apoio à Criança.

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THE GENIAL GENIUSES OF Make believe... it's a diary ARE:

• LEITÃO, MARIA EUGÉNIA
• NOONAN, SUSAN M.