Don’t feel guilty throwing out your children’s projects and papers. But definitely keep some items. This is a system that might work for you.
I think that in the beginning, most moms feel a little guilty throwing out the items that their children bring home. When a mother sends her first child to a playgroup, she might begin by keeping everything!
Really, really, there is no need. I’m here to tell you to not feel guilty throwing out projects. Your child put in a lot of time and effort. Give them the attention. Show interest, both in their work and the lesson they learned while doing it. Then decide how long you will keep it, whether you clear out the Shabbos papers on Sunday or Monday morning, or another specified time (i.e. until the following Friday).
Renee Muller keeps a box for each child on the top shelf of her closet (there’s much more space than a file folder), and once they get a little older, she lets them decide what they want to keep, as long as it’s contained within the box.
Knowing that you will keep some things makes you feel less guilty tossing other things. And having a file for each child from the beginning keeps everything contained, so you’re not left with lots of clutter and papers down the road. If you already have a file cabinet, you can make a file for each child there. Otherwise, there are pretty file boxes (like this one) with these file folders. It looks nice and neat on the shelf or in the closet.
I also have a file for the items I want to keep that are meaningful to me. It’s nice to have a place to put those special notes or letters that I do want to remember.
What’s your system for tossing and saving?
My system is not ideal but it works for us- I have an under bed box where I put anything I want to keep- we have a big family kah and too hard to separate by kids so it’s all mixed together
Whatever works!
I love those frames that you put artwork into (looks like modern art :)) Or corkboard to put artwork on and when it’s full you dispose to make place for new artwork.
https://www.zulily.com/p/macro-gallery-four-image-frame-528479-41087807.html?pos=3&fromEvent=528479
Nice idea!
I used to keep everything all together but I recently bought a narrow hanging file box for each child and divided it up by grade with hanging file folders. Everything I saved from playgroup for that child goes into one file folder , from KG into another, from first grade into another and so on. It is working beautifully and so much easier and more enjoyable to look through.
Beautiful if you can keep up as your family grows! Smart to start early. You can always combine folders later on.
You can also take pictures of the projects and put them in an album and throw out the actual projects. This way you can still see the project with taking up as little space as possible. (saw this idea in the circle magazine 🙂 )
My mother did this for me and I do it for my kids! It’s so cute to be able to look back!
I also saved sonogram photos, hospital tags…
Haha! Kids love looking at sonogram pics of themselves!
Projects are saved for a week on the dining room table or hanging on the fridge. When I clean up Thursday night for Shabbos, any project that is ripped, etc. gets thrown out. My kids each have a special box (12×12) for their prizes and projects that they keep in their rooms, and I transfer all projects that are in decent condition (not many) into each child’s respective box. When their box gets full, it’s time to purge!
Really special projects–ones with photos, handwritten notes, etc. get put in our family photo albums in sheet protectors. If I make a photobook, I put them in a pocket at the end or take a picture and put it in the photobook itself.
I have one box for very personal projects that I don’t feel comfortable putting in albums (report cards, etc.) that I keep on top of my closet. It’s deliberately small so that I think a few times before I put something in there.
Important: SAVE your child’s report cards. In some cases, they can be used as official documentation for a variety of purposes. My sister-in-law needed them when she went to Israel to verify that she had a Jewish education. Report cards don’t take up much space and it will save you a lot of aggravation trying to get ahold of school records under pressure if needed. Once your kids are independent and/or out of the house, you can include the report cards in the package with all their other documents.
Hi my kids love looking through their boxes and every time they do I may toss 1 or 2 projects that fell apart. As opposed to the 1st box you show above, I find a more square shaped box works better to hold regular paper size laying flat, not to mention end of the year yearbooks. I pile most of the projects 1 on top on another. It’s easier access like this especially if your kids will be looking through and cleaning up (hopefully) on their own.
So far I have one bin that I save mostly only projects that have a pic of the kid on them. But really I should be more organized as my family grows…
The hardest part of it is how the kids get upset when their things get thrown out. Have them each keep a box, whatever size you choose, and they can keep it full with their keepsakes. If it's overflowing, they have to decide whats important enough for them to save and discard what they'd rather not take up the room. This way, they make the rules while still keeping within a boundry
Being that I don’t take enough photos of my kids, I cut out the photos from the project and toss the project. This doesn’t take up too much space.
Another great idea someone gave me is I bought a one inch Looseleaf, I labeled the child’s name on the spine, and I have sheet protectors inside. Projects, report cards… go in a sheet protector. I also have one album for each child which I keep
Adding as they get older, family pictures, pictures with grandparents. This way when. They grow up and leave the house they’ll have a loose leaf and an album. For those that say they keep all their children’s stuff together- take the time now and separate. We don’t realize we’re saving for them. Not us. So make it read for them now!