Anyone who knows me knows that I’m the keepsake queen! Since high school I’ve kept scrapbooks, albums, and bins with everything from photos and notes to lucky coins, fortune cookie fortunes, ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, etc. (etc., etc.).
It really got out of control when I had my son. Suddenly I was keeping every scrap of paper with a squiggle on it. Once he started daycare my addiction became even more serious, and I found myself stuffing shoeboxes and empty diaper boxes with artwork, schoolwork, colouring pages, and (so much) more.
Then this spring, I lost my mind (I quit smoking) and I started organizing my house. I mean really organizing it. It started with shelf liner in the bottoms of all the drawers in our kitchen and bathroom, which led to organizing what was in those drawers. Then I did cupboards. And finally, I tackled closets. The last one I did was my bedroom closet – the floor of it had been taken over with mementos. I found my high school diploma mixed in with printed photos, certificates of achievement, years of birthday and holiday cards, and umpteen arts and crafts. It was time to do something about it.
So I bought one big bin for my son’s keepsakes. Whatever fit, I’d keep, and what didn’t got thrown out. I made lots and lots of piles. Some things were thrown out, and others were donated (like colouring books that were almost brand new).
I made a small pile with my favourite three-dimensional crafts creations and displayed those in a modest square shadowbox. I also bought two pieces of posterboard and stapled together three sides to make a giant folder or portfolio, and after I weeded through all the papers my son had drawn, painted, and coloured on, I slid the rest in there.
In the end, I have the bin, portfolio, and shadowbox (instead of at least four boxes of stuff). As I add to them and have to make room, other things will have to go. But at least I have a system. And, as my professional organizer friends will tell you, it all starts with having a system!
How do you manage all your children’s keepsakes?
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with Suburban readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.