Be honest!

i'd put it back. i may flip to see what it was if it wasn't clearly marked outside. i know my journals were just plain notebooks with no markings on it. i had my diary read by my sister when i was younger and i still remember the feeling. i wouldn't place that kind of hurt on my child. i would tell them that i found it but i didn't read it because i'd want an honest open relationship. if i didn't know they kept one i'd start a conversation like that because sometimes when kids/teens keep diaries, they need to vent or express what they're feeling inside. thats what i used it for, to express the sad and happy time, majority sad though. so i'd want them to know that instead of keeping it inside, they can discuss their problems with me if any.

I have a 14 year old daughter. She regularly lets me look in her diary, I have all the logins to her emails and myspace accounts. We have a very open relationship. She also knows if I find notes in her pants while doing laundry I will most certainly read them. If my daughter didnt let me read her diary, I would still do it. Then I would bring up conversations in which we discussed any issues she might be having. I realize not all children are as forthcoming as my daughter, not that she is perfect. I also keep a diary, next to my bed. I hope someday my children do read it and it helps them understand their mother better when I am gone. I dont care if my husband reads my diary.

Speaking from experience my friend, having been on the receiving end I would certainly never read someone's diary. I don't have children myself but when I was living with my ex, I used to write a diary every day! Well I always kept my diary hidden, but I must have gone out in a rush and left my diary on my bed, well my ex went in and found it and read it and there were stuff about my ex that I wouldn't want them reading, well it turns out that my ex read that I was planning to escape and you can imagine what happened next. It was very very unpleasant my friend. I was so angry that my ex had read my diary. After it had been read I burnt all of my diaries and have vowed never to write a diary again, too dangerous! So NO way! Diaries are PRIVATE! end of....

humbug let me ask you would you want your kid to read your diary? well neither would i , do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I would never read my child's diary just because it was out where I could see it . that belongs to him, not me. I trust him just as he trusts me. and if I break that trust how will it make him feel towards me. I am his mom and I dont want him to feel he cannot trust me as usual. no I would not look in it or touch it in any way. it does not belong to me.

Ok, if I would see a book into my daughter's room and it would be the first time that I seen it then for sure out of curiosity i would read it and i would probably do the same thing you have mentioned that i will sit on the edge of the bed and start reading those funny moments of my daughter unto her diary i know it is not good to read anybody's Diary for it is secret but I would still have to read to know here better......

If you have another separate reason why you think there is something specific wrong, and you've failed to get it out of your kid by talking to him/her what it is, and you think reading the diary will help you come to understand so you can help: THEN you can justify looking in the diary. Looking in the diary to a) satisfy your nosiness, and b) 'just make sure everything is ok' are not good reasons. You are violating the trust of your child and you have no good reason for doing so.

My mother and grandmother never read my jounals or diaries, but my brother read it. I chased him around the house afterwards wanting to get him for it.

I would not read my child's diary, Humbug, unless I had reason to be worried about them...say, changes in behavior. I kept a diary when I was young and would have been disappointed if I knew my parents had read it. Not that there was anything really naughty in it, just that a person's diary is sacred to them. I only remember one of my daughters keeping a diary and I was never tempted to read it even though she did not keep it hidden. Private thoughts are private and should be respected as such.

Nosy me probably wouldn't be able to help herself, lol. My oldest is seven, so it's doubtful she is keeping one yet. She sort of had one a year ago but proudly showed me everything she wrote. Kind of cute... And then they'll probably outgrow it. I never read anybody else's diary (for lack of finding it, lol). But have gone through a pile of open mail of an ex-boyfriend that he had kept in a drawer...'just mail from a friend' turned out to be, yeah, regular letters from a girl that eventually and progressively turned into love letters (there were like twenty of them). I read them because I knew something was wrong and was looking for answers. I never told him I read them. I put them back exactly as they were. I don't think he ever figured I read them. Needless to say, we split shortly thereafter because he became heavily involved with her. Unfortunately for him, she only had been toying with him. Something I had already figured out from the letters. He was her admirer, and when he started dating me, she couldn't take it and did her best to lure him away (she lived in his hometown). They split a couple of months later when he moved back home.

Humbug, Once a child is in middle school, you truly need to do anything and everything you can to know what is going on in their minds. Along with the hormone changes taking place, peer pressure hits them - big time! I admit that I read my daughters journal and a few notes that I found that had been passed among her friends. This happened while I was doing the carpet in my home and I found these hidden treasures. In all honesty, I read something that told me enough that I made up reasons for why I wouldn'tlet her stay all night with a certain girl mentioned. It's your call on this one! Act like you haven't read it unless something you find disturbs you and a confortation may be necessary. Hindsight comes in handy when keeping your child out of harms way.

Honestly, im going to read it,It's kind of situation that i can't resist not to read it. What if i flound important things in thier that emotionally they hate me or they feel upset on me, then i can make it right as early. But i would not tell them that i read thier diary, that makes them mad at me and embarrass. I keep that as my secret.

I totally agree with most of the posters. I would read my child's diary if I came across it - although I wouldn't go looking for it unless I had a reason to do so. However, I wouldn't let on that I had read it, and if it did bring to light any problems, then I would bring up the subject in a roundabout way, without saying anything specific to what I'd read. I am extremely nosey - this I know. But I don't think it's such a bad thing in a mother. We have to make sure that our children are safe, and sometimes when they are not, they don't always come to us, no matter what type of relationship we think we have with them. Better nosey and them safe, then all of us sorry.

I honestly will read my child diary ..because then i will how he or she feels bout the things that she or he is facing maybe i could help them with

as i'm a really curious person i would definetly read some pages of their diaries. Although i know it's not a good thing i can't help myself with it. If i read that my children are having any problems that don't share with me i would try to talk with them about the related problems without mentioning that i read the diary. I think it can also help a parent to know more about their child, things that they are experiencing and that they don't want to share.

my son is going to be 7 this year. they're still young. when most kids start diaries or journals they're about 10 or so. then, its simple things, but just being open and talking with them, asking them about what they talked about and what happened during the day. my i tell my son to tell me everything, and he does...talk talk talk talk non stop sometimes. i may not like it now but if i can keep this line of communication open until his teens then i have a better chance of him trusting and coming to me when he does have problems. now on simple things that won't harm your childs life like little lessons, you need to let them learn those on their own. teach them the best you can and just trust them. you know they're smart, have faith in your child. they haven't done anything to make you think otherwise.

Hi friend, It is obvious and it mother's tendency to see what it is about.I think there is no need to shy about it.We have the right to touch our son's or daughter book,because as their parents we should take care of them.If i were a mother i would look at the dairy as what is their inside. Have a nice day.

Hi, there humbug25, i hate to admit it but i think i would read it because its important for parents to keep track of what there kids are doing especially during those crucial years because there so much peer pressure out there, i would feel kind of bad but some times you do what you have to do to make sure your kids are safe, but anyway thats one of the reasons i never kept a diary as a kid and i still dont to this day not because my mother red my diary it was the fear of the possibility that she might, not that i had anything to highed i just didn't want anyone reading my personal or private thoughts, but i understand why parents these days feel compelled to read there kids diary sometimes but if i ever become a parent i would try to make sure my child feels comfortable enough to talk to me about things in there life when i was young i talk to my mom about almost everything, but im no expert on child rearing and i guess i will never truly know how i would handle certain saturation's until i have my own but i do know how my mom was with me and i think i will most likely fallow most of my parents raising and parenting method's.

there room is a special place but if your having the feeling that they are going through more then they tell you get in there and read the book look through the pages if they have anything out of the norm you take the book and sit down and talk to them and tell em to be honest about it personally i would sit there for about 20 minutes debating read or not but if i was concerned parent i would read if there not open to me about there problems then read on and be calm when you talk to them about it ok remember someday they might be taking care of you show them love all they youth and they will love you back in the future always be there no matter what

Would you rather read the diary before or after something drastic happens to your son or daughter? I feel I am responsible for teaching and helping my children. Especially as teenagers. Teenagers are not normally going to come to you with their problems. Their friends are more important at this time. But it doesn't mean they don't want your help. If you child was going to jump off a cliff, wouldn't you stop them? If they get involved in something that might eventually kill them, it's our responsibility to stop them. But don't try to solve all of their problems. Sometimes writing it down is a means of handling it. If your kids are leaving their diaries out to be seen, I believe it may be a plead for help. If they really don't want us to read them, they will put them somewhere that it can't be found. That doesn't give us the permission to turn their bedrooms inside out.

Oh my i can't wait for that one. I have a 10 month old son so it doesn't really count right now but yes if he did have a diary and if i did find it i'd probably read it just because i was curious on what it said about me or what he's been up to. I mean seriously it could help you as a parent as well, what if it said something about him not trusting you as a parent or how mean you are here and there about some situation you had with him. You could get his take on it without even having to argue with him or sit down and have a heart to heart talk and you could just start working on these things for the future. You would have the heads up in a sense in what they are looking for out of you or better yet what they are looking up to you for. I think it would help you build a better relationship with your son or daughter. They just don't need to know you found it that's all.