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When my oldest was in the second grade, there was much talk floating around the internet regarding First Communion Notebooks. People went through great lengths to print out and put together a little binder to both reinforce the Catechism lessons and make a keepsake of their child’s First Holy Communion.
I gaped and awed at everyone’s journals but, alas, my daughter was not to have one of her own. Her mother was the mother of the great plans and little follow through.
With my second child I passed a cursory glance in the way of First Communion journals. I thought – however briefly – that with child I would for sure be organized enough to follow through with all the printables. It was but a brief glance. I quickly remembered my natural born tendencies and inadequacies and we passed on the journal.
With my third child, I didn’t even have the temptation of a great and beautiful journal. I knew myself too, well.
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But if I had something like Avril O’Reilly’s “The First Holy Communion Keepsake Journal” I think things would have gone better for all of my children. Avril sent me the journal designed for girls, but there is blue copy available for boys.
Avril has thought of everything and balanced the pages beautifully. The pages inside the journal are for the First Communicant to fill out. Some of the pages are meant to reinforce the Catechism. But other pages, like the one above, is for the child to record the specialness of the day. There are plenty of “fun” pages, too.
Tell me that your own 7 year old little girl wouldn’t want to design her own First Communion dress. And an invitation to add glitter! Who can refuse? (No worries! I’m sure the glitter First Communion Dress isn’t a part of the blue book for boys!)
The books are well done. Sometimes the font is a little too fancy for my taste, but I don’t think it’s anything a 7 year old’s handwriting won’t make up for.
The First Holy Communion Keepsake Journal would make a darling gift for the First Communicant in your life. It’s a sweet little gift that’s not only fun for the 2nd grader now, but that promises to be a lovely keepsake for years to come.
**I received a free copy of the First Holy Communion Keepsake Journal in the hopes that I would provide a (favorable) review. But free books aren’t necessarily good books. All opinions are my own.
I would’ve liked this book for my daughter decades ago. She would have, too.
My kids would have enjoyed it, too. The story is true – I had all sorts of big plans for this kind of thing from printables off the internet. I would have loved to be able to just buy one!