Control the End-of-School Clutter with Easy Memory Boxes
Wed, May 21, 2008
It’s official. As of today, my kids wrapped up another great school year and brought home a mountain of papers to prove it. Writing journals, art projects, report cards - their backpacks were stuffed to the limit. Within 10 minutes of getting home this afternoon, all three kids had scattered their stash all over the living room floor. I’m a big fan of purging and I’m not a scrapbooker, so my first instinct was to grab a trash bag and rescue my floor. But, as a nostalgic Mom, I just couldn’t bring myself to toss it all. I mean what kind of parent could throw out a perfect, purple octopus painting by their 5 year-old or a “Why I love my Mom” essay by their third-grader? So, naturally, I was forced to find another alternative.
That’s when I remembered an idea I read about in Family Fun Magazine. One clever Mom suggested using Priority Mail boxes to store kid art projects. I use Priority Mail to ship all my MeckMom Etsy Store orders, so luckily I had a pack of these flat rate boxes sitting in the garage. I pulled out three boxes and labeled them with each child’s name, teacher, grade, and the year. Next, I started sifting through their stash and pulled out my favorite pieces. Then, I let the kids choose a few of their favorites. After that, I went through their family inbox (that’s where I temorarily store stuff I want to keep) and added a few more items to their box (like school pictures, awards, mother’s day cards, etc.).
My plan from this point is to take a video of each child going through and describing the treasures in their box. Once that’s done, we’ll pack everything up, seal the box, and move them to the big, plastic container in the garage.
It’s not a permanent solution - eventually I hope to make DVDs of each kid’s photos, art, and videos. It’s just a great way to keep everything organized (and off my floor) until I have time to take on the bigger project. The flat rate boxes are available for free at your local post office or online at usps.com. Just thought I’d pass it on.
Tags: art projects, memory boxes, organize, papers
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Thank you, Maria! We do the big plastic bins, but I like that each box separates the year. I wish I had recorded my kids telling me about their work when they were young. That will be a precious treasure. I’m ordering the boxes and working on our storage, so this was perfect timing. BTW, we are still in school. Many more loooong weeks.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I found that taking pictures worked for me & the kids. Had the memories not the clutter.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I hardly save anything beyond some handmade cards. As my kids bring home projects I take a closeup photo of the project itself or of them holding it. I stick them in a 4×6 album and that’s that!
May 26th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I really love this idea. This is great!
May 27th, 2008 at 9:43 am
This is a great idea.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I love this idea. You just solved all of my paper sorting problems!