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1. March 2, 1545 - Birth of Thomas Bodley - Okay, stay with me here, kids.
Between 1598-1602 Bodley committed himself to re-founding Oxford University's library which today is a collection of 4.2 million volumes.

• Journaling Idea: What books make up your personal or your family library? Are there books you've owned since your childhood? Books you inherited? Ask each family member to profile a favorite book. Since the first week in March is "Return the Borrowed Book Week." Is there a book on your shelves that doesn't belong?
• Photo Idea: Take a picture of each person holding his/her favorite book.
  Take a close-up of the book. Is it dog-eared? Well-loved? Is there an inscription inside the book?
• Page Idea: Show your books and add your profiles. Photograph the family bookcase. Other questions you may wish to ask: "Where is your favorite place to read? Which books have you read over and over? Which series of books have you collected?"

2. March 12, 1797-The Bank of England introduced the pound note. Beginning last year, American currency changed by increasing the size of the oval portrait on bills. As of January this year, the Euro replaced many currencies in Europe.

• Journaling Idea: How has currency changed during your lifetime? (Think of the new quarters featuring each state. Think of Susan B. Anthony silver dollars.) Do you remember your first savings bank? Was it the traditional pig? Pull out your wallet and write about what's inside. Are there more credit cards and ATM cards than cash? Did you have an allowance as a child? How much was it?
• Photo Idea: Photograph your local ATM machine and the front of your bank. (It may change names before you get your page finished!) Photograph a child holding his/her allowance. Rub a crayon over the faces of coins to show new designs.
• Page Idea: We've come a long way from bartering, haven't we? Create a page that tells how you pay for goods and services today. At my local grocery store here in the United Kingdom, you can swipe your own groceries through a bar code reader after the reader has first swiped your account number. No need to stand in line!

3. March 7, 1876-Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone. Wouldn't he be amazed to see how compact and portable phones are today?

• Journaling Idea: What phone numbers do you have memorized? (A friend lamented to me that she only knows two numbers by heart-her pediatrician and pizza delivery.) It may seem silly, but I think back fondly over my Grandma's phone number. Although she's been gone for nearly two years, that silly string of digits brings a smile to my face almost as though I could still call her! What phones are your family using today? How many do you have? Be sure to write about phone foibles. For a while in the States, my office number was one digit from the number for Evenflo Bottles. I had the most unusual messages on my machine from mothers with plugged nipples.
• Photo Idea: Photograph all those phones. Photograph or photocopy a phone bill. Take a picture of all your family members on the phone.
• Page Idea: Draw a springy phone cord around the outside of your page as a border or make a border of frequently phoned numbers.

4. March 7, 1933-The world's best-selling board game, Monopoly, was trademarked by Charles Darrow. We have to own four sets of Monopoly from travel and junior size to local knock-offs. My son became frustrated with the game with his father always won. In a flash of brilliance, he borrowed a book from the local library on how to win at Monopoly. The next game between my son and my husband boasted a real upset as my boy "skunked" his dad. Every family I know has a Monopoly story. What's yours?

• Journaling Idea: Who loves and who hates Monopoly at your house? When do you play it? Does anyone have a favorite property or utility? Or a favorite token?
• Photo Idea: Take a picture of the family around the board. Take close-ups of the tokens and match them to members.
• Page Idea: Make a border like the border on the game. Or put your journaling inside a journaling box that looks like a property deed.

5. March is "Talk with Your Teen about Sex" month.

• Journaling Idea: How did you learn about the birds and the bees? Did you harbor any misconceptions? Who told you the facts of life?
• Photo Idea: Why not take photos of birds and bees and use them to decorate a page?
• Page Idea: Add to the photos of the birds and the bees any funny comments your children have made about sex. My son stumbled upon a book of human anatomy in pre-school. The book had been donated to the school and they evidently hadn't perused it page by page. When he found the graphics and explanation of the sex act, Michael knew he'd come across volatile information. He showed it to the after-care teacher but refused to give up the book. When my husband showed up to pick up our child, Michael toddled over to his dad and offered up the book. "This book," said Mike in an authoritative voice, "contains material totally inappropriate for a children my age." (We still trot out that comment and laugh about it. Of course, he was right! The school was appropriately embarrassed, and we had a lot of explaining to do. And we thought we'd have several years grace, but oh, no, here he was at four with burning questions.)

6. Music in our Schools Month - What a great time to rent Mr. Holland's Opus or The Music of the Heart, or Amadeus (although he's not in the classroom, it's a heck of a story)!

• Journaling Idea: Did you play an instrument in school? Which one? What was it like? Do you have any funny stories about being a musician? Who was your music teacher?
• Photo Idea: If you have a young musician, pose your student with the music teacher. How about a shot of the instrument? We sold my alto sax when I was in college and needed the cash, and I wish I had a photo of it today.
• Page Idea: Sprinkle lots of music notes all over the page or write the headline on a music staff.

7. National Craft and Hobby Month - Calling all scrapbookers! This is the perfect month to share scrapbooking with a friend. Why be addicted and all alone?

• Journaling Idea: How did you get involved with scrapbooking?
• Photo Idea: Have someone take a picture of you working on a page.
• Page Idea: Show your local scrapbook store, your scrapbooking pals and
  your work area. Tell why you enjoy making scrapbook pages.
• Shameless Promotional Ploy: Need a little scrapbooking motivation? Check out my newest book Adventures in Journaling for fresh, new journaling and page ideas.

--Joanna

Joanna's new book Adventures in Journaling is available in stores now! Look for it at your local scrapbook retailer or at my-memories.net.