When my kids started preschool a few years ago, I loved when they would come home with school work, I could see what their little hands did while they were away. They were always so proud of themselves. I would hang everything up.
I usually showed everyone who came over, too. (Yes. I was that person.)
Now that they are in first grade and full day kindergarten, the papers aren’t so cute anymore. I’m pretty sure it’s because everyday they come home with 62,000 pieces of paper and 88,000 pieces every Thursday. (Thursday is EXTRA PAPER DAY.) (apparently.)
I can’t keep it straight and I only have two kids. I’m swimming in the papers and I’m certain I’m missing something. Maybe a note from a teacher telling me that my daughter is brilliant or a reminder note telling me that I needed to send in $5 with my son so he can attend the field trip. If I don’t, he has to sit in the corner of an empty room all by himself.
GAH!
That whole field trip scenario is actually a very big fear of mine today. He has a field trip and I’m so scared that it really wasn’t free. I mean, is anything free anymore? (sweating, panicking, breathing…)
This is what my table looked like last night before dinner.
In my haste to serve a warm, somewhat healthy dinner in a timely fashion, rather than putting everything away, I piled it up into massive piles where the papers will multiply and the piles will soon overtake my life and kill me.
Because who can throw their kids school work away?
If you can…tell me how you do it and then tell me how you live with the guilt.
k?
and hurry, I’m running out of room.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I have the kids tell me what they want me to save and what they want to throw away!
It’s worked very well for us.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I have a plastic tote for each kid. (They’re only 2 & 4 but we STILL get paper…can’t wait till it multiplies!) The pieces that stand out to me for one reason or another go into the tote for that kid. Other stuff gets pitched…keeping it all would make me more panicky than the thought of missing what I’ve tossed. I keep more than I need to - I know that. But I at least have it under control and can re-sort and purge the totes if need be.
GOOD LUCK!
September 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I recycle, all newsletters, calendars and other things I can find on the schools website. I also get rid of day to day math, english, social studies papers that are of no importance and won’t be used again. I keep their artwork and cute things they have written and have a whole tub of it in a closet, but thankfully that dwindles off by the first grade;)Some of their art pieces I have framed and are hanging in our house and like I tweeted you I have forgotten to send in lunch money for my oldest daughter (i’m pretty sure two days in a row now).. I still have one pile, but I go through it once a week and purge!! If not it will grow and take over!! Good Luck!
September 16th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I have a big pile of artwork that I plan to photograph, and then I’ll create a photobook to keep - and throw the original stuff away (save for a couple of very cool pieces that are hanging up). But all the school notices and PTO fliers and such? I keep a folder and try to purge it once a week, but yeah, it’s A LOT of paperwork.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:47 am
oh the piles!!!!! i couldn’t agree more!
i too have SUCH a hard time letting some of it go! but how many hand prints… sparkly noodle necklaces… can we really keep!
i do have keepsake trunks for each of the girls… if there is something i think i want to keep for them i toss it is there… then every so often i go through the trunks (which is fun) to pare down. after time i think i can REALLY decide if it is special enough to hang onto.
i think i AM getting better at tossing the nonsense though… they send home way too many memos from school! out of backpack straight to trash!
last night… my kitchen island looked just like your table!
btw… followed “i should be folding laundry” tweet… to you!
September 16th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
A few years back I read an article that had the kids decorate a shoe box then you just keep what can fit into the shoe box each year–I also have a hard time throwing away birthday cards and find that is a great place to keep them too!
September 16th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Great topic! A friend and I were just discussing this. I have a kindergartener and a second grader and a preschooler and it’s becoming insane. My friend says she keeps tests only, plus artwork. Last year, I kept so much that it was counterproductive — I just pitched all of the non-arty stuff at the end. So this year, I plan to get a tote for each one and put in only the tests and artwork.
My best friend swears by her “garbage bag” system. Once big garbage bag for each kid hangs in a back hallway. Everything goes into it. Not sure what happens at the end of the year.
And thanks for the reminder. I have to drive on a kindergarten field trip and forgot to send in the $$ (my daughter is free — I’m not!). Ugh!
September 16th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I was just freaking out about all of the papers the other day! And yesterday! And today! And I only have ONE kid in school right now! What about when I have BOTH in school???
I bought a couple of letter trays to keep on my island (the paperwork magnet) so I could sort the important stuff-sight words, phonics stuff, lunch calendar-and keep the not-so-important stuff-worksheets, little art projects, reminder notes-separate. I’m not sure if it’s working yet.
And I also am planning to take pictures of art work, then put them into a photobook. Note the word “planning”!
September 16th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
When my kids were little, from time to time we would shoot a video of them holding up each piece of artwork, or whatever and they could tell about it and then we could toss the actual project because it was documented forever. Of course, there were some things that we kept (creative writings and totally creative artwork—not the kind where the teacher tells you to put this “here”), but it helped to keep us from downing in papers.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I save anything with a handprint, any unusually well done artwork, or that is personal to them (a poem they wrote, a card they made me, etc.). The worksheets, I toss as soon as I take them out of their folders. All of the important paperwork (permission slips, book orders, etc.) I place in a basket I keep on my counter next to my phone.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I know - it’s rediculous the amount of paper these kids use. With my first daughter I saved everything, only to go through it a couple years later and recycle almost everything. Now I recycle most things right away and save a few pieces of art and writing samples. I’ve started a photo file for some of their art work too, then we don’t feel bad about getting rid of it or being sad if it gets ruined. I’m still searching for a way to organize it all. Good luck to us!!
September 16th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I just pick and choose. I throw away most things. I keep the things that say something about who they are right now. So things like “Book About Me,” “My Family,” and so on. Graded papers go in the trash. Useless handouts (that I get in every kid’s folder b/c obviously they can’t know who has siblings in the school) go in the trash. Ask your kids what they want to keep and tell them it is their job to keep it neat and organized and out of the way.
As for important papers, they get signed, etc immediately and put back in the folder. Anything that requires money gets immediate attention (meaning I stop what I’m doing and dig out the checkbook or the cash). It is like handling mail–sort and dump as soon as it gets in the house!
September 16th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
About the artwork - Try a pizza box for each of them, for each year! You can make pretty labels for them, they stack really nicely, and oversized art projects will fit into them! They also don’t take up too much space. I don’t have kids yet, but that is my plan when I do. I saw that in a magazine article one time. I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the other stuff… let us know what you figure out!
Another thing that my mom does is frame a LOT of our artwork - there are six of us and our childhood artwork is all over her office even now. The rest of it she puts (at least pieces of) in our scrapbook. I say this in present tense because she has 3 married children, one college student, and 2 little girls at home. She had to figure out something that would work for a very long time
Good luck with all of it!
September 16th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I’m started with this dilemma last year when my oldest started preschool. My solution:
1) Anything that shows what she does for the first time (writing name, drawing shapes, etc.) goes into their scrapbook
2) Anything she does daily (practicing letters, coloring a simple coloring page) gets shown to daddy and then gets displayed on her bulletin board for a week. Then it discreetly goes into the recycling bin at bedtime. (The paper bin is high up so she never sees what’s in it.)
3) Anything that I deem very colorful, imaginative, special will get hung for a month on the bulletin board. Then it comes down and is photographed. The artwork is either put into her special plastic storage tote (I have one for each daughter) or divided up among the grandparents and sent to them. (Let them deal with it).
4) With the photographs, I mount them on plain cardstock and use the cards for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I printed out labels to put inside the card that says “Handmade by “My Daughter’s Name” Everyone who has received one just loved the idea!
Good luck!
September 16th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I pitch. The guilt’s horrible, but we have a small house and it’s too overwhelming to try and keep it.
I do keep some special things, but seriously, not much.
September 16th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
My aunt takes the pieces that my cousins color/craft/draw, and write little notes on the back and sends them to Grandma/Grandpa/Aunt/Cousin/Neighbor.
They usually just say “We were thinking about you!” but it allows the other family members to see the pieces, and she doesn’t feel guilty about getting rid of them.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
i recycle and the papers go into my compost. i keep the art and paper books they create. thanks for posting this, because i have always felt guilt about the amount of papers i get rid of.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
My counter looks like that all the time. This year Boo is bringing home paper everyday, but last year it was all on Friday. A TON on Friday’s.
I throw anything that isn’t a test, fabulous art or important from the school. I look everything over with the kids first, then out it goes. Boo has a tub just for school memories, so it all goes in there everytime. It helps that she knows my system, at first she would get mad. lol
September 16th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Having 3 kids in grades, 10th, 6th & 2nd I only allow myself to save a folder per year. Each kids gets their own folder so saving papers as a keepsake. I pick roughly 3 pages per week to save. I put them their respective folder. At the end of the school year, I re-sort through them and whatever doesn’t fit into the folder has to go buh - bye.
Also, whenever my kids come home with notes, etc. There is an orange folder that sits on our counter. All of their notes need to go into there NO MATTER WHAT. Every night after dinner, I go through the folder and deal with it then.
I can’t stand when my children chase me around the house flagging me down with papers. And the best, “I gave it to you”.
Forgetta bout it. Orange folder please.
Sounds rough and disciplined I know. I sometimes screw up and keep too much, throw away too much, or forget about the folder.
It helps the sanity levels though.
September 17th, 2009 at 6:27 am
I have 2 girls in grades 6 and 9. Unless the girls say they specifically want to keep something it ALL gets recycled. I used to hold onto stuff and it was just a crazy scary mess.
And sadly no field trips are free anymore. Even if they happen to be free they will get you with we are all stopping a McD’s for lunch (or insert another name here) please send in your $xxx so they can eat the same lunch as every other kid and not feel bad because you are a horrible parent and make them brown bag it when all the other kids are eating happy meals. HAPPY MEALS! (okay that might not be what the permission slips say but that’s what I feel)
September 17th, 2009 at 6:57 am
With 5 kids the amount of paper they bring home daily could sink a small ship. Over the years I have come up with a few “rules” when it comes to saving … if they come home beaming from ear to ear when they hand it to me then it’s saved….. if not then it goes in the trash after a week.
All of the saved papers go into a box ( one for each kid) and at the end of the school year they go through it and pick out the ones that they want to save for keepsakes.
Important papers( teacher notes, field trip forms, etc) : They each have a fridge clip magnet that I wrote their name on. They place the papers on the fridge and I know then that it needs my attention right away. Once it is read, signed, etc. I move it to the front door where they put it in their bag on their way out the door in the morning.
September 17th, 2009 at 8:56 am
When my kids started school, each got a box. Everything they brought home that they *had* to keep was displayed for a few days and then put into the box. At the end of each year they got one scrapbook each. We would enjoy going through the box and sorting out the masterpieces. Choose which ones made the cut. Put them in the scrapbooks and recycled all of the rest.
September 17th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I save what *I* think is special and store it in an under-the-bed container.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Yeah. I hate extra paper, so I tend to be kind of brutal with it. If it’s a newsletter/other static information and one sided, I recycle as printer paper. If it’s not reusable, it gets thrown in the recycling.
We have an art gallery, each gets to choose about 15 pieces to hang. Something new comes in they want to keep? They choose one piece to chuck. Now that both grandparents are out of town, we choose stuff to send to them. The GPs LOVE IT! If it’s not being sent to them, or if the kids say they don’t want to keep it, then I take pictures of it and add them to my screen saver slide show.
They also have a box in their room of stuff they absolutely want to keep but I don’t think “deserves” to be hung up in the art gallery. If the box fills ups, then something gets tossed.
Some stuff just gets trashed. Pieces I really love, I keep in a box I have for each of them. Again, if the box fills up, that means I have purge.
I have a tendency to choose a few pieces from the beginning of the year and a few pieces from the end of the year so I can see how they progressed.
This may be my longest comment ever.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:41 am
about 3 papers a month get tossed…I have boxes of them in my closet, no kidding, I have a problem.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I saved almost all of my older sons papers from school until this summer, when I was cleaning out the garage (yes, that’s where I stored them - in HUGE rubber maid containers) and I tossed almost ALL of them! I cried as I did it but he’s a freshman in college and he really doesn’t care one bit about the past school work he did!! I saved some k, 1st and 2nd grade papers, but the rest I tossed! It was fun to look back at all the schoolwork he had done over the years!
My suggestion — save only SPECIAL papers in a rubbermaid container for each child and then at the end of the year PURGE!!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
we save our papers in a basket for the whole month. after all those weeks go by and the pile builds, you become detatched from the work and it’s so much easier to toss it out. without guilt. i always tell my kids, “we can’t keep it all.”
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