In just a few days, Zack will start school and I know the onslaught of worksheets and art projects coming home will begin again. The next week, Sammy will start pre-school and he'll have items too. I hate how disorganized I feel about saving them and how hard it is to throw them away. I wish I would date everything immediately - how can I get myself do that? I'd like to save just a small selection of compelling or representative items, but how to choose, and where to store, and what to do with them later?
Earlier in the summer I polled my friends and got some ideas. Two have an art wire where they hang current projects. One has a portfolio where she keeps a selection of "keeper" pieces, that then get weeded out and replaced as the portfolio gets too full. I am working on incorporating some form of those for our family. I also need to deal with all the stuff they will be bringing home from school that isn't necessarily "art".
Here is one awesome book I like that showcases the schoolwork and art from a single year.
I like that but if I ever hope to do anything like it (or just keep from having piles of incoming junk sitting everywehre!) I need a plan for what to do with pieces as they arrive. I want to work on that over the next few days... because a few days is all I have left and then it's school time!
Have you ever seen the playroom in our house? We decided to devote one entire wall to the boys' artwork, and now the wall is completely covered collage style with art. Now all four walls look like that! It looks pretty neat, but now we are out of space, so it is time to replace things. The other drawback is that some items fade, and I would have liked to keep some of the faded ones for posterity (before they were faded!). Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law keeps some and then sends other artwork to various family members who do not live close by.
Let me know what you figure out. Our house is just starting to get overrun with kid projects, and Cade's starting preschool next week so it will only get worse!
ReplyDeleteOh, Deanna, your quandry brings back fun (& funny) memories! My 32-year-old (Scott) is a pack-rat, wanted to save everything. So the loft in our garage contains many boxes of his schoolwork, childhood treasures (including all of his Care Bears), even our first Mac computer from 1985. This spring he finally sorted & purged a lot. My 27-year-old, on the other hand, wanted to keep NOTHING, so we have nothing much but the portfolio his kindergarten teacher sent home at the end of the year. When I mention it, he just laughs. Of course, Kevin and I also saved boxes of baby clothes, children's books (that we can STILL recite), kids games to play with our future grandkids . . . . all in all, we're surrounded by stuff to store for/from our kids! Not to mention the whole closet full of photo albums and boxes of photos yet to be put in albums. So . . . Be careful! :-) Kathleen Crittenden
ReplyDeleteUg. I'm not one to keep NJ's art projects... maybe because his heart is rarely in them. I usually have to really coax him into coloring a bit for a holiday or birthday and he's never especially proud of any art work he's done. I wonder why... maybe because we don't keep it? chicken? egg?
ReplyDeleteTania - that sounds very cool! But, I get overwhelmed if just my fridge gets covered, ha. We do have a bulletin board in Zack's room and sometimes we add stuff to that but you are right about it fading. Plus, it's pretty quick to run out of room.
ReplyDeleteLara - I do have one more idea I found, I'm hoping to post about it soon!
ReplyDeleteKathleen - those two extremes are exactly what I am afraid of! :) I'm glad to hear it is funny looking back because some days here it just seems like a mess! ;) Thanks for your story!
ReplyDeleteJulie - I think Z got more interested when he had the dexterity to actually make something himself. Remember when he just suddenly started getting into coloring?
ReplyDeleteLove that little book on that blog. Maybe I can clear off the fridge with a general "pre-school" book & then start another for K. I'm a pack rat but I really want organized sentimental stuff only--not the extra clutter. I'm curious about the other thing you found.
ReplyDeletei have a friend who keeps it in a folder on her desk. about once a month, she scans it all in, saves the images and chunks the actual art, except for 2-3 exceptional keeper pieces
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