What Papers Do You Keep?

[bmcneal]

DD and DS bring home *tons* of school work every day. A lot of it is art/craft type stuff, but there are also pages where DS (preschool) is learning to write letters/words, and things like that. I feel like I should try and keep some of it, but I don't know how much to keep, or if I should really keep anything at all. (I did keep the snowman he made for Christmas, and the wreath and gingerbread man, and put them with Christmas decorations.)

I have the slightest bit of hoarder in me (not terrible, and it is fairly easy to say, "I really don't need this" and get rid of it.), so I'm not sure if it's normal to keep that kind of thing, or if it's the hoarder in me talking.

What I'm wondering is, what, if any, schoolwork of your DC's do you keep, or do you recycle all of it?

[mkksmom]

I have a 2 gallon zip-lock per kid for each year. I go through after some time has passed and get rid of stuff. I would save a few of the learning to write papers, but not all. Usually I throw it in a bin for a while, and go through after some time has passed. I also do put some things in with the holiday decorations.
I'd say it's normal to save some school work, especially in the earlier years. I love looking through what I have saved.

[crunchy_mommy]

My camera has saved me. I take pictures of DS's work, keep a few special pieces (maybe one thing a month) and then throw out everything else. Sometimes we use art projects as wrapping paper or cards or give it to someone.

I don't know what I'll do with the photos... most likely they will just sit on my computer until I have the time & money to make them into a photo book or at least burn them onto a CD! But it's still better than keeping piles & piles of paper, and I don't feel guilty throwing things out once I've taken a pic.

[Viola]

Apparently all of them, looking at my house.

[honeybee80]

Originally Posted by Viola 

Apparently all of them, looking at my house.

My kids each have a bin (not huge) that they keep in their closet.  When it gets too full, they have to decide what to get rid of.  They are pretty good about it, but decide to keep the weirdest stuff--LOL!  I will sometimes take pics of them holding their artwork and then toss it.  I'm not sentimentally attached to any of it, so that makes it easy to toss most of it ;)

[LeighPF]

I put anything that might be worth saving in a drawer, hen it gets fullish, I sort though, with the perspective of time and pick the best, most representative pieces. I put them in an artist portfolio album from Dick Blick.

[PeacefulSeams]

My boys get to put 1 picture on the fridge. It gets tossed or mailed to a family member when a new one is brought home. The only school papers I keep are their report cards and the occasional writing assignment. Everything else gets recycled.

[skillina]

My kid makes art and stories every day, so paper can really pile up! I tend to save things in a box that my child cares about, then, periodically, we go through it together. She picks a few special items and we put it in a binder that has become a "best of album" of her early childhood. She enjoys seeing the way her writing and art has progressed over time, the binder takes up less than 3 inches of shelf space and any other item she feels attached to but we don't have room for, I just take a photo of and she can look at it digitally. (She rarely asks to see the photos again, but that process seems to help her let go of art projects that are too clunky to keep otherwise.)

[journeymom]

Stuff i especially liked went on the fridge immediately. The rest went in large, flat bins under their beds. There was always the paper bags stuffed full with everything cleaned out of their desks their teachers sent home at the end of the year. Lots of times those bags got tucked away in closet corners and forgotten.

Just putting it all in bins and bags satisfied both dd and me. Dd, because she had a lot of anxiety parting with anything. Me, because if dd wasn't going to let me get rid of stuff I had to get the flood off my radar somehow. I'm not capable of anything more organized, beyond rotating art pieces on the fridge.

We just moved from our home of 10 years. In clearing out closets I discovered those bags of art and writing. I had a wonderful time pouring through them, and then i recycled them all. I'm so glad they were there to look at!

Actually the under-bed bins just got packed up in the move. I imagine those won't be emptied till the kids are grown and out of the house.

So there's one mom's perspective spanning 12 years of schooling.