What Do Do with Things I Want to Keep of My Kids?

I am addicted to those organize shows on TV (like Mission Organization) so this is from them, as my kids are not in school yet so the art projects are kept to a minimum :-)

The best suggestion I heard (and plan to implement) is to get a box for each child. One art box like these: http://www.tiny.cc/3UecK
and then get a magazine file or binder as well for school related things. You store everything in there and then when its full you and your child go through it together and decide what to throw out.

The thought is that if you have limited space that you will only keep what is really special or important.

Hope that helps!

Another idea I've heard is to only keep a very few special ones in a box (maybe one per year per kid) - something they drew or wrote that you thought was exceptional. The rest - use a scanner or digital camera to save it digitally! Then you can burn them all to a disk (make a backup though - sometimes disks will get damaged over time) and look at them on the computer. For the teacher's reports and other written material you could probably use a fax scanner and have it come out fine and be done quickly. For the drawings you will probably want a scanner or decent digital camera to capture them more crisply.

Here is the direct link to the company Melissa recommended: http://www.exposuresonline.com/ExposuresOnline/Default.aspx

The link she provided makes you go through an ad screen first - thought you might want the direct route! :)

Glad you asked this question - I was wondering about this as well!

Another thing I read about...

You can scan some of the stuff and then it's just on the computer or....

laminate some of the art projects and use them as placemats....

Good Morning If the things you are talking about are pictures and papers from school I used a different colored binder for each child I only kept the ones that touched my heart. I bought a cheap binder and then bought the clear top loading sheets to fit in it everything stays put, some of the things I had to fold but that just helped to keep it neat. Another thing I used binders for was at the beginning of the school year I did the same thing for each child but these ones were for all the papers (phone#,schedules,calendars) you get from the school and then as the year went on any papers that came home went into the binder. This helps when you need to call the school you know where the number is.
You could also go the scrapbooking directions it takes longer but you can be really creative and have fun with it. You can scan the papers and pictures make them smaller and fit more then one on a page then you throw out the pile of papers. There are tons of ideas on the scrapbooking sites I have seen alot of neat things done that way. Check out scrapbooking online for ideas.

S.

Try to take digital photos and start a computer scrap book of all your kids items. Or print pics and do a scrap book.

I haven't hit this yet with our son, but I can tell you that MY mom kept report cards, art projects (only the best ones), some notable certificates and awards. When I graduated from high school she put them all into a scrapbook for me as a gift - it was really fun!