Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Household Management
Drowning in kids' projects....Help!!



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

mommalah




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 16 2009, 8:28 pm
How do you organize your kids' projects? I am going nuts from all of them. My 2 girls come home everyday from school with at least 2-3 papers and then they each draw or color on 3-4 more pages until dinner (oftentimes more). I have their projects from when they started preschool. So for dd1 I have stuff that is 3 years old and for dd2 I have stuff that's like 2years old. Some of it are nice projects but most of it is not and not Renoir/Van Gogh -like enough to keep. I mean some of this stuff is like the first drawings/ coloring when dd1 was 20 months old...or cards for R'H, mother's day, etc..The sentimental stuff (stuff made for me and dh) I have a hard time letting go of. The other stuff they cannot let go of. I've taken to throwing away some stuff on occasion (usually Erev Shabbos) but they freak out if they see their stuff in the garbage. They also have toms of activity /educational workbooks and half filled coloring books all over the place. We've thought of maybe taking pics of the nicest stuff and trashing the rest. But they will not be happy....

HELP!!! Please.
Back to top

grin




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 3:05 am
first off, give each a drawer or box for their projects. When it gets full, go through the stuff together with them to decide whats' a "keeper". If there is nice stuff that has to go, take a photo of it before you toss it out - digital cameras are a wonder for things like this!

(I have some stuff that's over 20 years old! one day I'll make scrap books with them all, iyh.)
Back to top

BeershevaBubby




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 3:12 am
Loose leaf binders for the sentimental papers.

Everything else gets saved in a bin/box/shelf and once a month or so you make a day of photographing everything with the kids and then it gets tossed.
Back to top

shalhevet




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 3:30 am
I keep a folder per child per year, and put a small selection in each one. I wouldn't ask a little child which they want to keep - I think you know better which they would treasure as adults.
Back to top

grin




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 3:43 am
shalhevet wrote:
I keep a folder per child per year, and put a small selection in each one. I wouldn't ask a little child which they want to keep - I think you know better which they would treasure as adults.

I don't need their help deciding what to keep long-term but I definitely think they should get to decide what to keep in the box for now, since right now these are valuable to them and I think it's only right to honor their opinion about their own treasures.
Back to top

micki




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 6:24 am
as long as they don't see that it got thrown out they will never know.
the nice stuff like pesach megillas I keep
Back to top

louche




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 7:17 am
Oh, how unfondly I remember those days!

Projects would be displayed on a bulletin board or a wall until the next project arrived to take its place. In preschool this was the next day. The old was taken down to make room for the new, and then--when the artists weren't looking--was thrown out. The rare special item was sent to OOT grandparents*, plus we had a box for super-special holiday projects like Purim masks or Shavuos flower collages that we displayed each year until they fell apart, I got tired of them, or we ran out of space in the box.

For report cards, papers, award certificates and the like, each child got a file folder. I decided what went in the folder unless the child asked me to keep something specific. At some point, like after HS graduation, I had each child go thru his folder and get rid of whatever he didn't want. I still have the folders in my file drawer. When each one leaves home, the folder goes with him/her. What they do with it is their business at that point.

Painful as it is, you MUST train your dds that they can't hang on to every scrap of paper that they produce. The sooner you get this idea through to them, the better. Be brave, be firm, be immovable. Set a concrete limit: we save one item a week till the end of the school year, then when school's out we save the best 2 or 3. Taking pix of what you get rid of may help, as will giving stuff to grandparents with the understanding that they are under no obligation to keep anything. Once the stuff is out of sight, your dds will quickly forget about them.

Your dds are showing signs of compulsive collecting if they really can't bear to part with workbooks and activity sheets. Nip this in the bud lest you bring up a pair of Collyer Sisters.
Back to top

su7kids




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 8:06 am
Take photographs and make an album of the pictures.
Back to top

mommalah




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 6:52 pm
Thanks everyone for your ideas and responses. I like the idea of putting the project up daily on a board and maybe then I'll put it in a box to go through at the end of the month. Then we'll decide on the nicest 2 or so, photograph those or trash them. I'll have to trash almost all of what we have slowly. There are like 7 shopping bags filled with various projects and used workbooks. I hope my compulsive collectors don't notice...
Back to top

imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Feb 17 2009, 6:57 pm
Just wanted to add that when my kids got older, they threw away all those things that they insisted on saving for many years, and never looked at again.

Once I figured that out, I have done as shalhevet said, and quietly save a few things and dispose of the rest in a timely manner. When I pull out an album of their work from a year or 2 ago, I never hear, "What happened to the art project I made for Chanukah that year?" Nope, they enjoy looking at what is there.

The exception is sukkah decorations, which are fun to keep from year to year, until finally your child begs you not to embarrass him/her by hanging them up where people might see that they were once little.
Back to top

louche




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Feb 18 2009, 7:31 am
imasinger wrote:

The exception is sukkah decorations, which are fun to keep from year to year, until finally your child begs you not to embarrass him/her by hanging them up where people might see that they were once little.


In our house it's the Chanuka and Purim decorations, but same idea. "Maaaa, why do you still have that awful Purim mask I made in first grade?" "Because you stopped doing arts and crafts in third grade, and this is the only Purim decoration I have left!"
Back to top
Page 1 of 1 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Household Management

Related Topics Replies Last Post
Some kids don’t thrive in a school setting 17 Today at 1:50 pm View last post
I love frum fashion for kids
by amother
142 Today at 1:36 pm View last post
Are all kids like this??
by amother
4 Today at 11:49 am View last post
Belati Kids
by amother
0 Today at 8:05 am View last post
Saying no to kids for selfish reasons
by amother
47 Today at 4:37 am View last post