Do you journal? Or maybe you have intentions of journaling that never come to fruition? (Guilty as charged over here!) The folks at Promptly Journals make it easy to put words on the page with their beautiful and thoughtfully made guided journals. I recently got to try out two of them and wish I had discovered these much earlier in my life!

Note: I was given a gift card toward the cost of these products in exchange for my Promptly Journals review. If you purchase anything from the third party links in this post, I will receive a small compensation at absolutely no cost to you. As a thanks, my readers get 15 percent off their purchase with coupon code JGOOD15 at checkout.

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I was initially drawn to Promptly Journals because they offer adoption history journals. But once on their site, I was blown away by all the options. There are couples connection two-person journals, autobiography journals, missionary journals, gratitude journals, childhood history journals, and travel journals. They even have a section of healing journals that help you work through hard things like grief, miscarriage, and infertility. Each option is expertly bound and covered in a way that makes you feel a little more sophisticated just to have it in your hand.

I ordered the Loom Parent-Child Journal and the Adoption History Journal. Both are beautiful!

Adoption History Guided Journals

If you are familiar with my story, you know that we adopted my daughter from China. I had a really difficult time finding a parallel to the pregnancy and baby books I used with my son. In fact, I eventually just bought a blank spiral notebook and recorded what I could about the adoption process there. After we brought her home, I got a traditional baby book and had to tweak several pages to make it fit.

Promptly Journals meets a need that so many adoptive parents have with their adoption history journal. I ordered myself one with a neutral sand linen cover. It includes prompts specific to adoption to help document the journey from the initial process through the child’s teenage years. Here are some examples of the prompts from the journal:

• Where were you and how did you find out you were receiving your child?
• How did you announce your adoption to your family and friends?
• Where were you when you first met?
• Why you belong to us…
• Conversations about being adopted…

This is a page from the Adoption Process section of Promptly Journal’s Adoption History Journal.

The adoption history journal is perfect for any newborn adoption as it has sections dealing with birth, firsts, and monthly prompts for the first year. It gives you one place to document the adoption and development with guided questions, spaces for photos, and room to record special moments and thoughts. They estimate that it only takes an hour each year to easily write out the most important memories through your child’s 18th birthday. It is a wonderful gift for an adoptive parent in your life or to purchase as a keepsake if you are the one adopting.

However, if your child was adopted when they were older, you will have to skip several pages depending on the age of the child. In that case, I recommend getting one of their blank journals to document your adoption journey, and perhaps one of the travel journals if you did an international adoption. I hope Promptly Journals expands on the wonderful concept of the adoption history journal in the future to accommodate more adoptive families.

Adoption History Journal with a sand linen cover.

Parent-Child Guided Journals

One of the things I love most about Promptly Journals is the way they make journaling a connection point with other people in your life. I honestly never imagined journaling could be something I did together with my spouse or child until I stumbled across their website. That’s why I also ordered the Loom Parent-Child Journal as well.

This journal was designed and illustrated with writing and drawing prompts to spur conversation and connection between you and your child. My son turns eight this month and I thought this was a great way to set aside some regular quality time. Plus, I only have to get one journal instead of paying the price of two separate ones.

The Loom journal begins with instructions and a short story called The Tale of the Threads that sets the tone for the experience. Throughout the book, you and your child will be prompted with activities to help you both recall favorite memories together, imagine yourself as a superhero, write your goals, and talk about how you feel and show love.

The conversation doesn’t feel forced because you have the journal to guide you. It only takes about 20 minutes per week to build a more connected relationship with your child. My son enjoys having special one-on-one time with me, and I really like getting to focus on just him.

I got the Loom Parent-Child Journal in dusty blue. It has a linen spine and leatherette cover. There are 180+ pages with sections of connective journaling prompts, a safe space to ask questions and have conversation, and a spot where the parent records memorable quotes, gifts, talents, and other things you don’t want your child to forget. It also comes with a mini promptbook to encourage discussion inside and outside the journal.

It is designed for kids ages five and up, but I may go ahead and buy one for my daughter as well so that both kids will have matching journals. Every child benefits from a stronger relationship with their parent(s), but it is even more critical in the connected parenting style encouraged for adoptive families. Therefore, I recommend this highly for any child!

This is the Loom Parent-Child Journal in dusty blue linen and leatherette.

Promptly Journals Review Bottom Line

Promptly Journals has developed an array of thoughtful, high-quality, prompted journals for a variety of occasions and milestones. They make it easy for even the those who think journaling isn’t for them to find an easy way to document, connect, and heal. Not only do they make great gifts for wedding showers, birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and anniversaries, but you will want to buy them yourself!

For my adoption followers, the adoption history journal may not be a perfect fit for every family, but I love the inclusion of the idea in the product line.  I also encourage you to check out the parent-child journal as a great connected parenting tool.

Promptly Journal Coupon Code

Though I only ordered those two journals, I have my eye on several more Promptly Journals for the future. I’m sure you’ll love them as much as me, especially with an exclusive discount!

My readers get 15 percent off their purchase when using Promptly Journals promo code JGOOD15 at checkout.

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