Now our family can't bear to be without Jofli

WE have a new family member in our household by the name of Jofli and to say that he has made a difference to our life would be an understatement. He is cute, he is cuddly, he is adored by my almost four-year-old Adam and as if that wasn’t enough, because of Jofli we are spending more "quality" time together.

Jofli is a "Journey of Life!" bear. He has his own little backpack that contains a diary with the idea that people record their memories and adventures together.

When I explained this to Adam, he was excited and intrigued – he can’t write yet, but he is learning, so the idea of being able to record what he does was fascinating to him. So much so, that the first day we had Jofli he wanted to write about his breakfast!

Our first outing with Jofli – or Adam, as my Adam decided to rename him – was to the annual Carve Carrbridge chainsaw carving competition.

With a little help from me, Adam popped Jofli in the backpack, swung the backpack on his back and we proudly spent a few hours watching the carving. When we left, we had barely got out of the car park when Adam was delving into the backpack to find the provided journal and pen so he could write about the cakes he ate and the Spiderman face painting he had done – that evening we spent about 10 minutes writing about what we had done together.

Since then Jofli has become a regular part if our life – he comes most places with us, even to the shops, and we try to fill in as much information about our days spent into the little journal provided.

The makers of Jofli promote him as being appealing to a number of different audiences such as scout and guide groups, for childminders to engage parents in their child’s activities, as a way of offering comfort and stability to adopted or fostered children in their "Journey of Life" and to encourage literacy in youngsters, but to name a few.

I have to admit that I was a bit sceptical about Jofli – I mean how much impact can one little teddy bear with a backpack and a book really have?

We are a family that likes to talk and as I am a working mum I am obsessive about making sure I know what the kids have been up to and making sure that I still feel part of their day and reassuring them, that I am still involved and interested in what they have done.

But the proof is in the pudding and Jofli has been a great tool at encouraging us to really think about our activities.

An added bonus for me is that as I have only recently returned to work after having our second son Tom, I am missing out on what Adam is doing all day long. Now, as part of the bedtime routine, we take time to talk about what he has done and write about it in Jofli’s journal.

It not only means that Adam is learning to articulate well about his day, but I am getting the benefits too as he excited to see me write down all his stories and I am also finding out what is important to him.

In fact, on one occasion Adam even asked me to write in the book about what I had done – not only did I feel dead chuffed he wanted to know about my day, but it gave him an understanding of what I do as a journalist.

All in all, Jofli is a great little bear and at just £27.99 you get a lot for your money – a backpack, a teddy bear, a story book, a journal and a pen.

You can also log onto the Jofli website where there is a whole host of different activities and stories that can be done.

Jofli is something a little different that can be useful and appeal to a wide range of people as he is so versatile – it’s the type of idea that makes you think: "I wish I’d thought of that"!

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Available from www.jofli.com