Separated parents: agree on the purpose of a shared memory journal

Give the journal a specific purpose

A journal can preserve a drawing, phrase or outing that a child may want to revisit. It need not document every movement or provide an account of everything happening in each home.

Try a simple intention: “We want to keep a few memories our child can read later.” Check that the adults understand it in the same way. This guide addresses how to organise stories; it does not determine parental authority or contact rights.

Write down three understandable boundaries

Before opening access, agree who may read, which categories of content to avoid and what to do if someone requests removal. A concrete boundary is more useful than a vague agreement to share everything.

You might limit the journal to activities and creations, leave out detailed health and school information, and discuss any additional reader before inviting them. Adapt these examples rather than treating them as universal rules.

CNIL explains image rights in the French context. Rules relevant to a family depend on jurisdiction and circumstances. Technical access to an application does not replace an agreement or any required permission.

Include the child’s perspective without making them a messenger

Invite the child to choose a memory if they want to. Avoid captions that assign them a judgement about a parent or compare households. Reported words need context and do not automatically represent a lasting opinion.

A fictional descriptive caption might read: “On Saturday, we finished a puzzle of boats.” The scene can stand on its own without a comment on what another household would have done differently.

Check whether the sharing scope fits

In Parent Journey, an invitation grants access to the account owner’s memories. There are currently no per-photo permissions or separate household compartments. If you need to show only selected entries, this scope does not meet that need.

Do not add information you want to keep from invited readers. Revocation cannot retrieve copies already saved. Practical arrangements can stay in their usual channel. A journal is neither a mediation service nor an evidence file, and using it does not by itself settle a family disagreement.