Nifer that is why I stopped doing the journals. I also found most of the disagreements I had with a parent was over something I had written in the journal that was taken the wrong way or especially from a new mom who didn't understand what group care meant. Just because a parent writes on the intake info that morning nap is from 9-10 in group care that can mean 8:45 if child seems tired or we need to go somewhere later in the morning or not be till 9:15 because we were busy with an activity and it made sense to finish it first. Same as you my afternoon is busy with my own things and I'm sorry but it isnt' my job to give the parents a play by play of the day. At pickup I tell them how the child slept, the menu if it isn't posted on the wall and how well they ate, if there were any issues with diapering such as more BM than usual. When I did do journals they were small spiral books - sort of 5x4 from the dollar store and if parent forgot the book there was no report - no loose pages. And they were only done until the child turned 18 months and or was doing one nap along with the rest of the group and eating basic table foods - ie there was nothing out of the ordinary care wise that needed to be reported on. I also found it hard to write about what each child played with since their attention span for any toy was only a few minutes long.