Kid’s Artwork is abundant in our house even with just one child. Households with multiple kids struggle to tackle paper clutter because of the volume. I believe every parent finds their kid’s artwork difficult because of the memories.
Artwork more appropriately falls under sentimental clutter versus paper clutter. And sentimental stuff requires its own process.
Currently, I am working on a small scrapbook for my son’s elementary years. I collected photos and artwork from kindergarten through elementary school. With each passing grade, there is less and less.
I asked for his help with a few large books of his first writing samples. We read them together and laughed at the funny sentences. He noted 6 or 7 pieces that he truly remembered. I snapped photos of those. Without prompting, he said, “I think I’m ready to pass these on. I don’t need them.”
I believe there are three reasons that allowed him to this so easily.
- Time – Several years had passed since he wrote these stories. He’s not attached to them. And he won’t be more attached to them in 20 years.
- Seeing the example – His parents model a life with less and all the benefits. We prioritize experiences, not stuff. Our purchases are thoughtful and scarce. When it comes to sentimental items, we keep only the best. Our home is not a museum.
- Not His Collection – He didn’t fill the storage bin with artwork in the first place. It is more sentimental to me than to him. It represents days gone by. Days that as a parent, you wish you could get back, even just for one hour. He’s excited to grow up while I want to keep him little as long as I can.
So…who are we really saving it for?
He graduated from elementary school and I finished his scrapbook, but it will be my last. Paper scrapbooking is a dying art I enjoyed for a season. I am comfortable saying goodbye to it and spending my time in other ways.
In our house, it’s experiences over stuff. It’s about making the memories not preserving them. It’s about spending the few short summers I have left with my son in a way that he and I will both remember.
As for this scrapbook, he will enjoy it for a time. I plan to tell him a story about each grade and share my memories with him. He loves hearing stories from when he was little. The book’s fate after that is unknown.
His generation, the i-Generation, will inherit our social media pages as their childhood history. Scrapbooks will weigh them down. I don’t expect him to carry this book off to college.
Who am I really saving it for? Me. But even that will have limits.
Wish I could post the picture of the saved artwork! It’s all in a bin ready to be tackled a different day. Thankfully it has been self purged all along at the end of each year. But those last few pieces of writing and art remain. It certainly is hard to process the sentimental “bin”. I would much rather throw away, pass on or sell (which we have done) items of less value! Thanks for a most helpful post!
You are very welcome! I’m so glad it resonated with you. I always say, save the sentimental stuff for last. You’re working in just the right order. Keep going!!