WASHINGTON — As we reflect back on this past year, 2020 has been challenging for all of us, especially our kids. One local author is now sharing her coping mechanism which helped her family through difficult seasons in the past.
When Lauren Bogart lost her husband, Paul, in 2004, to a brain tumor, remembers encouraging her children to journal as a therapeutic way to process the profound loss.
"In 2002, my husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had young kids at a time, I had two boys and I was pregnant actually with my third child. As he became very sick and debilitated, I was looking for a way for my kids to express themselves," said Lauren Bogart.
Her family turned to writing as a way to cope with the grief. "It also offered me a window into what was going on through their little hearts and our minds," said Bogart.
In letters dating back several decades, Lauren Bogart said these notes represent a big part of their family history. "I’ve got years worth of kids notes and again a precious precious keepsake to me," said Bogart.
Bogart is now the author of a new COVID journal geared towards kids called Memories of a Weird Year!
She wanted to help other families dealing with loss. "Some families have certainly experienced profound loss, whether it’s a loss of life or a tremendous financial loss," said Bogart.
"What I wanted to do and what I was inspired to do was to create something for kids today to document all their feelings, their memories and just their experiences of living through this pandemic," said Bogart.
"Regardless of what the individual child is going through, I just wanted to provide an opportunity for them to talk about new activities they’ve tried, or things they miss doing," said Bogart.
In the COVID journal, geared towards young children, there are different prompt encouraging children to draw a picture or share a story about how they are feeling.
"2020 will become an important part of your family history so I think it’s really important to capture it whether it’s through my book or even just giving your kids some pencil and paper and crayons and telling them to draw pictures and write about it," said Bogart.
Bogart said her hope is that the journal will help children work through a pandemic that has affected everyone in different ways.
"We all hope we can get to the other side of it and will be looking back at it and it becomes history but document it, I think it is really important," said Bogart.
To find the journal, click here.
