Life Story Book

Parents have often been heard to say in the past: ‘Of course, no-one can give you a guidebook on how to do it!’ 

Nowadays there is a wealth of information available, online, in magazines and books, and in the media.  So, what is the purpose of Life Story Book, with its Learning Diary, its Information Guidelines and its Life Story Record?  Essentially, it’s a guidebook in 7 sections that encourages you to reflect on your own childhood and how it influences the way you raise your child; it provides you with some relevant and easily accessible information, and offers you a place to record significant milestones in your life together – and it’s all contained in one place.

Life Story Book aims to offer you brief but comprehensive support through the first thousand days – the first three years - of your child’s life. These are the years when children are most dependent on the people who look after them as a source of love and wisdom, as practical carers, as home managers and financial providers.  You are constantly ‘on call,’ because there is so much to do!

The relationship between a parent and a child is a lifelong one.  As in every other relationship, it can be developed and understood more clearly when we become more aware of ourselves, as an individual, a parent, a carer, and as a member of society.  As our lives change, so do we, and learning about ourselves can become a lifelong process.

Life Story Book offers insight into physical needs, such as nutrition, health and safety; it highlights psychological needs such as growth and development; it focuses on the importance of playing and developing social skills; it conveys the value of spiritual needs such as having a sense of meaning and belonging.  It offers a universal perspective on life, focusing on what unites people, such as love and acceptance, rather than what can divide them, such as judgement and oppression.

There is a saying: ‘You are unique, just like everyone else!’ Every life is different, but all lives benefit from loving and wise support from other people to guide them on their way.  May this booklet help to support you and your child through the first three years of your lives together, so that you can say: ‘Now, here is a guidebook for me!’

 Life Story Book is a short booklet, which can be helpful for busy parents who don’t much time to spare for reading

 Life Story Book is inter-active.  It contains a Learning Diary, Information Guidelines and a LIfe Story Record to offer support to the relationship between parents and their children from birth to the age of three 

Life Story Book is flexible.  It is presented in a ring binder format, so that sections can be taken out of it if necessary, and new information added to it

 Life Story Book is dynamic.  It provides a framework for marking daily life, significant milestones, and special events that establish the unique identity of every family

 Life Story Book is practical.  It is easy to carry, and useful in daily life, with its information about nutrition, health, and safety 

 Life Story Book is thought provoking.  It encourages parents to learn more about themselves through their own childhood experiences, and how it can influence them in caring for their own children. 

Life Story Book is for every parent and child, because it addresses the universal needs of everyone to be loved and accepted. It is dedicated to each parent and child, to honour the relationship between them, and to help nurture it with kindness and understanding.

1 – it’s a Life Story Book for parents and their children, so that they can have a record of their first 3 years with one another

2 – it’s a short booklet, designed for busy parents who don’t have much time for reading!

3  - It’s easy to read, with all the contents clearly displayed in 3 colour coded sections

4 -  It’s an information guide for key areas of parenting in body, mind and soul

5 – It’s a learning diary for parents, to help them to become more aware of their children’s

needs by reflecting on their own childhood experiences

6 – It’s a record for children, to help them create a memory bank of the first three years of their lives

7 – It’s adaptable, because as well as giving information guidelines, a life story record and a learning diary, more can be added to it, such as articles from magazines and newspapers, certificates, photographs, artwork and other memorabilia, in the ring binder format

Life Story Book is a short handbook for parents and young children about the first three years of their life together.  It contains specific information and practical guidelines on:

Growth and Development

Nutrition

Play

Behaviour and Discipline

Adaptation to Change

Health and Safety

Life Story Book is divided into 3 sections: 

- Learning Diary to encourage parents to reflect on their own childhood  

- Information Guidelines to provide essential facts about child care

- Life Story Record to build a memory bank for both parents and children

Life Story Book is based on the development of compassionate parenting skills that are both loving and wise. It encourages parents to reflect on the nature and temperament of their child; it helps them to explore the reasons for their child’s behaviour, and how to help them to adapt to the challenges that arise naturally in life; it provides details to help make the environment stimulating, safe and secure. It is designed to be used by both children and their parents as they build their life together in the present and for the future. 

Life Story Book is based on Christina’s experiences of 50 years working in health care, during which she learned from personal experiences, professional observations and academic studies about the impact that childhood experiences can have on people when they become parents, in relation to themselves, to the children in their care, and to their life in the world.

Life Story Book is inspired by the former practice used in France to provide every parent a ‘Carnet de Sante’, a Health Record Book, so that all the significant milestones in their child’s life could be noted and preserved. Christina has used a ring binder folder format, so that more material, such as photographs, articles, records and certificates, can be added to the content of the handbook. It is designed to create a unique account of the life story of the child and the parent during the first three years, the first thousand days of their time with one another.

I wish you all a uniquely fulfilling life.