I have a confession to make. Some of you already know about this, but I kept every single paper my oldest, Ayva, ever brought home from school. Two years of pre-k and halfway through her kindergarten year, I knew I needed to do something about it before it got way out of control. I have seen a few different ideas on how to store all of your child’s school and art work. From taking a picture of each thing (yikes) and making a scrap book to just simply tossing it all in the trash (um, no! I’m saving those sweet Mother’s Day papers).
I kept all of these papers in a big cardboard box for a while before I finally went through it and decided what to keep. I tried to pick the most special things to keep, such as those Mother’s Day questions that she filled out all about me, her first day of school papers, certificates, good notes sent hoem, etc. When I couldn’t decide on some of it, I would ask myself could I tell she made it. I’m SURE I’ve still kept way too much, but I figure each year there will be less and less cute handmade things AND I can always go back and purge more things if I need to. I bought an accordion organizer and started out with that, but quickly realized a few things. One, I was going to need more space eventually anyway. Two, I might as well store all of her papers together, including vaccination records and other grade related papers I need for each year and I’ll just toss them at the end of each year.
I found these file storage bins and hanging folders to use. I labeled each folder: Vaccination Records, Pre-K, Kindergarten, etc. Other sections you might label would be special paperwork such as allergist information, dental paperwork, summer camp documents, etc. This has been a great way to keep everything in one place and not piled up all over the house in different places. I will add, we keep everyone’s birth certificates, social security cards, etc in a separate place in the house. I also have a tub for each child that has sentimental items from my pregnancy with each one of them (ultrasound photos, etc) and their special newborn items (going home outfits, baby hats, etc). Some people may say I hold on to too much of these things but these things mean the world to me. I cherish these babies and all of their most precious items and memories.
Hopefully this was helpful for some other sentimental mamas like me!
xo, Kristen
