Childhood Memorabilia: Keepers or Castoffs

Had the fortunate opportunity to spend three weeks in the United Kingdom with some members of my family – girls only. We even went on a Harry Potter movie tour! That’s right, Harry Potter and Twilight in the same year! I thought about blogging during the trip, but there was really only so much time during the day. I did keep a journal (for the scrapbook!) and will post some pictures to the blog soon.

We had a blast visiting England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and even Belgium. Can you believe we didn’t encounter a single scrapbooking store?! Many of the souvenir shops didn’t even have stickers. Fortunately, there are sites like Scrap Your Trip. After the second week, I was convinced scrapbooking just isn’t as popular in the UK as it is in America. Certainly hope that isn’t a sign of things to come!

Find order in organization

Since returning from the UK, I’ve been on a cleaning and organizing binge. For someone who is so passionate about paper and often finds herself surrounded by it, even I get tired of the trail that somehow ends up all over the house. Number one organizing rule of thumb: don’t set it down -- anywhere! Any scrapbooking expert will tell you that staying organized is the key to completing any project, advice I would do well to take, lest I find myself on another scavenger hunt.

Not all of the paper belongs in the recycling basket, though. As a lover of all things papyrus, including memorabilia, I have amassed quite an assemblage of Summer’s drawings, painting and art projects. Early on, I tamed it by purchasing one of those oversized accordion art folders, dating each item, and grouping them by month. Come scrapbooking time, I thought, it would be a cinch to pull something out for whatever page I happened to be working on. However, the months and years have quickly generated a paper mound that would rival kindling for a bonfire. And she hasn't even started school yet! Sheesh! At least I had good intentions! 

Sad truth: we can't keep everything

Yesterday, with a little trepidation, I spent the afternoon going through a lot of Summer's old drawings and art projects. Part of me felt very accomplished as the pile gradually dwindled, but the other part felt like a heartless mother casting off the imprint of her child’s first years. As I went through each stack, I set aside one out of every dozen or so pieces. What criteria did I use to determine what to keep? You may wonder. It wasn’t easy, because every piece is precious in some way, but there comes a time when even the mawkish among us must find a way to let things go.

Scrapbook-perfect. First and foremost, I held onto anything that would fit neatly onto a scrapbook page beside other items without having to manipulate or shrink it.  I can just envision a Valentine's Day page from 2010 embellished with those two red-hearted teddy bears bearing Summer's penciled-in faces and circles.

Sentimentality. I know what you're thinking: what of our children's art doesn't have sentimental value? I agree, but had to exercise pragmatism in solving this dilemma. I know they are all cute, but how many pencil drawings and paintings of stick figures do we honestly need to recollect our kids' youthful innocence and unsullied world view? I elected to keep anything Summer worked on with members of the family. For example, my mom occasionally does one-on-one projects with her about stories from the Bible, like Joseph and his colorful coat, and sometimes the three of us draw cards to give each other on holidays. 

Milestones. I never want to forget how small Summer's hands were, so I kept anything with the shape or outline of her hands. I also kept things like her first coloring book, or the progression of her practicing to write ABCs and 123s.

Originals. Some pieces were easy to separate based on whether she had worked on them herself or she had some “help.” While some of the more intricate pieces are nice, originals by Summer are much more cherished.

If there was a piece of memorabilia I was waffling over, I snapped a picture of it, then committed it to castoffs. In everything, there is compromise.

Do you keep all of your kids’ artwork through the years? If so, how do you keep it organized? In sifting through it, how did you decide what to keep? How have you incorporated the artwork into your scrapbooks? I'd love to hear from you!

Next organizing project:  Scrapbook merchandise inventory (that means sale - stay tuned!)