Do you struggle with finding space to store your child’s artwork, school papers, and other crafty creations? I think it’s a pretty common problem for parents {and maybe some grandparents too}. I’ve seen tons of ideas for cute ways to display doodles or organize files. But what I do is not that. Today I’m talking about something else: why I throw away my kids’ art.
Okay, so a quick disclaimer so that you’ll read the whole post before you decide I’m crazy. I don’t throw away everything. I keep a few things from every year, usually the most creative and interesting. The ones my kids are really proud of. The ones that are personal.
Maybe there are other parents out there reading this and thinking “Yes, I’m not the only one!”
I don’t think that keeping every coloring page and homework project has any benefit. In fact, I think that if I did that, I would be doing a disservice to my children.
No more hoarding
My mom was a hoarder, although a fairly mild one. She kept anything that might be useful later – craft supplies, unused furniture, too-small clothes, and anything sentimental. We were pretty broke, so throwing away something that she might have to purchase again later was fairly practical, but it made for a full house.
She also kept boxes full of baby memories, special toys, and newspaper clippings. Graduating from a small town, I was in the newspaper almost weekly for band and awards and other things.
When I was in college, my mom’s house flooded. All of the boxes stored in the back bedroom were ruined.
Many things were lost. At first, I was upset. My stuff! The gut reaction was automatic, but once I sat down and tried to make a list of what was gone, there was little I could even remember.
Years later, when she passed away, I had a similar feeling. My sister tossed most of my mom’s possessions and put the rest in a storage building. I got nothing.
At first, I was as upset, just like after the flood. I had none of her things. Not the books, or the quirky old table, or any of the stuff from my childhood home.
Then I realized that I didn’t need the stuff to remember her. I didn’t have room to store “stuff” anyway. It would just collect dust and take up space. The photos and memories and stories are much more important.
Why I throw away my kids’ art
I would much rather spend time doing something with my children than organizing. Don’t get me wrong – I love a good organization project. It makes me feel very accomplished to check something big off of my to-do list.
What’s the point in having a nice, organized home if you can’t enjoy time in it together?
I don’t want my children to have the same semi-hoarder issues that I did {or do}. I naturally tend to hang onto things “just in case,” but then I go through the house and throw out a mountain in one weekend.
I don’t want my children to feel like they need to save everything and I definitely don’t want them to worry about what to do with all my “stuff” when I’m gone.
The lessons I’m teaching
I hope that my children see the purpose. They know that we only keep the extra special things and rarely does it bother them. When it does, I realize those things are special and keep them. They see me taking unneeded items to a local donation station or carrying out a full recycling bin every week.
I want them to know that it isn’t the stuff but the experiences that are important. We might make paper chains to decorate the Christmas tree, but in January they will be recycled. My kids and I have photos and the memories we made playing together. What we don’t have is another box sitting in the garage.
Here’s what I do:
As stuff comes into the house or is created, I divide it into two categories. One is ‘recycle now’ and the other is ‘wait and see’.
The wait and see things go on my desk – or the refrigerator – so that we can enjoy them for a while. Before I throw things away, I sometimes take a photo or scan it into the computer so I can save it without needing to rent a storage building.
{I also photograph a lot of LEGO creations.}
If something seems really important or special, I move it to the file cabinet to save. Most artwork ends up being recycled after a while. There’s just so much of it.
The most important part of this lesson is following my own advice. If I throw away my kids’ art, I can’t be hoarding my own junk. I sort through my own papers and stuff. I get rid of it often. We only have room for so much.
Ouch! I do hang onto too much and have many items from grandparents’ and parents’ homes. Working on it, seeing that I can actually recycle some old furniture. I am turning loose as I have time to work on it but it may still be there when I die for my kids to go through some of it as there is a whole house full and a whole office building full. Might just be parent’s revenge for all the times I told them to clean their rooms and they filled a box of useless items and stuffed it in the attic unbeknownst to me, if I leave it for them to clean out after my death!! The boys need to think about coming home for a few days and helping Mom work on these things since Dad can’t physically do it. Hmmmm.
I love this. My son is almost 4, so he hasn’t been creating art for too long, but when he began coloring, I was wondering if I was *supposed* to keep everything. But I soon starting throwing things away. I put in on the fridge, and we sit down and talk about it, and he explains what this art is, then after a while I throw it away, no guilt! I will keep special things, of course, but it’s definitely not worth filling up the whole house with.
It’s always good to hear I’m not the only one! I kept a lot of scribbles when mine were very young, but it gets easier to decide what is special.
I used to keep more than I do now. I had to force myself to go through the boxes of things they did when they were little. I have ADD and things were sort of hectic in the “little years”. My mother is a hoarder of all sorts of items and junk mail. Growing up, we could never have anyone over because of the mess. Her excuse was “we need a bigger house”. She grew up as the youngest child and also had a maid. I have decided, after spending over a YEAR digging through the completely disorganized mess, that teaching children to do responsible necessary things for themselves is tremendously important and very under rated.. My mother kept all of her memorabilia from all her 87 years. She kept everything her deceased parents and close relatives had. She brought fabric and patterns and all sorts projects which she never got around to doing She bought crystal and many gifts she never gave. She kept every travel brochure from every trip and convention she ever went to. She is very nice to everyone and every thing and every piece of paper……… I took pictures before we started because no one would believe it. No one went inside her house except family and a few home repair people. I have told my children I am not doing this to them. They understand.
Thanks so much for sharing, Elizabeth! I can definitely relate to the hectic “little years.” I kept a lot more when my kids were younger too. I could probably get rid of a lot more of it now. I think it’s okay to hold on to things while you’re still emotionally attached to them, then decide later that they can go.
My rule has been; take a photo of the art and throw it away unless it has a handprint or footprint then it goes into an art portfolio. Sometimes my son will put his handprint on the back of a random school art piece so I keep it ?
Mine are in 3rd and 4th now and rarely bring home artwork.
That’s a great idea, Jennifer. My kids did so many “generic” looking coloring activities, but the really personal ones were the ones I wanted to keep.
A friend of mine took photos of all the interesting or special artworks of her kids and had them printed into a photo book for each kid and they love to look at it occasionally.
That’s a great idea. Thanks for sharing, Carole!