You can enjoy notebooks more. My daughter taught me that.

"I have to write in my notebook properly."
My daughter taught me that I had been stuck in that mindset.
Even if you can't write hiragana, you can have fun sticking on stickers. You can collect the things you love and create a page that is uniquely yours.

On days when you can't think of anything to write, make it a priority to have fun.

This is a story about the day I realized that.

The day my daughter started using a notebook

It was one day that I started writing in a notebook with my daughter.
When I opened my notebook, my daughter sat down right next to me.
"I want to write too."

She said that, and chose her favorite from among my brand-new notebooks.
"She can't even write letters yet, so what is she going to write?"

Thinking that, I decided to leave it up to her.
My daughter picked up a pen and tried to write something on the page.

All she could write was a single character: "no".
But my daughter looked so happy.

She lined up "no"s all over the page and had fun sticking her favorite stickers here and there.

She has also pasted pictures she drew at nursery school into her notebook,
and told me, "I really like this one."
Seeing that, I thought to myself:
Oh, this is fine just as it is.

Notebooks don't have to be about proper letters or sentences.
She taught me that just preserving the things you like and your happy feelings is enough.

I tried writing by imitating my daughter

I tried imitating her, too.

I sat next to my daughter and tried sticking on some of my favorite stickers.
I tried writing just a little bit about "what I like."

I'm not very good at illustrations, but I like writing, so I wrote.

When I wrote about the things I like in the way I like, my heart felt a little lighter.
There are definitely days when I have nothing to write.
I can't think of anything, and I'm not in the mood.

At times like that, instead of thinking "I have to write,"
I try doing things I like.

For example, sticking on stickers.
Remembering the snack I ate that day and writing just a little bit about it.
Gently preserving the feeling of "I really like this."

Watching my daughter, I've come to think, "It doesn't have to be letters. It doesn't have to have meaning."

On days you can't write, focus on having fun

Notebooks can be much freer.
You can enjoy them, and you can play with them.

A notebook is a place to collect your "likes".

Thank you for reading this far. May your day be a wonderful one.