Delicate Balance - Save or Toss Kid’s Stuff?

in #family7 years ago

My wife and I somewhat of minimalists. We do not keep a cluttered house, it is pretty clean, and the kids toys are always picked up after playing with them.

Given our minimalist preferences, we sometimes find ourselves tossing out the kid's papers and projects, instead of retaining them for memory lane later. This is OK with us, however, if the kids discover their prized piece of art is now in the trash, they generally are not pleased!

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This situation has been happening more, and Jacob has now been looking in the trash to make sure we have not thrown any of his stuff out! It's pretty funny! We are certainly keeping some things for memory sake and will even add some stuff to the baby book, but in general, we will toss something out after a couple of days being on display.

I have a keepsake box from my youth, but I honestly never think about it and have not gone through it for a decade plus, and it is tucked away in the garage. I suppose each person is different and some might value these things more than me so I do feel it is important for us to keep some of the kid's prized things or keepsakes, but for the most part, it is into the garbage it goes!

Do you have any similar stories?

Take care,
Brian

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It's the innocence of the kids that they like to keep small things, really Aninde keep some of the drawings and small things that I've been working on since my childhood, my dear friend is nice to remember the beautiful events of the past through physical memories such as games and notebook graphics and certificates of excellence,
Good luck my dear friend @brian.rrr 👍👍😃
All the best for you 😃😉

really you best parents of our children..because i see you very perfectly doing guiding your children.. today you decribe very good story in your real life..just excellent. Jacob is so sweet that I already think he is my little son, the situation of keeping memories is often complicated, I also go to have the minimum at home, but my life has changed since I am a mother, life changes to be what they like to be, I don't want to imagine the look on Jacob's face when he sees his work of art in the dumpster, maybe it's a big disappointment, but in the end the parents are right, filling the house with souvenirs could be heavy, in the end it ends up being a pile of rubbish piled up on hillsides of it! Maybe you can reward him, with some drawings on the refrigerator door just for a few days. it works for me, maybe for you too..thanks to sharing for your good story..my dear friend.. @brian.rrr.. very well done..

Hello friend how are you, your children are small and it is good that they keep some of their things for when they are adults if they have a space at home is not bad to keep them, in my case my house is very small and my children are already The youngest is her teenager I keep little gifts that she gave when she was a girl

I completely get where you are coming from. Our children bring home so much stuff from school and create so many special things at home. Plus, there are awards and medals and so much more. We started off saving everything and then became so overwhelmed with stuff. We also like to keep things organized and tidy. When my mom passed away I got a box full of keepsake stuff that she had been saving. I was blown away because she had saved almost everything from my childhood. This included my old cubs uniform and hat among other things. It was neat to go through the stuff ut there was so much and now I had no idea what to do with it all. We decided at that point that we needed to manage what we kept for our kids. We started talking with our kids about things that they "really" wanted to keep and we started taking pictures of other things. This way they can have a digital album of memories and we don't have to clutter up the house with 6 kids worth of memorabilia.

Maybe it's a feeling of small we like our father to keep things we do for them although sometimes it is not the best hahaha, I can imagine Jacob looking through the trash to make sure they do not throw any of his drawings I think when he's a little It will be bigger and maybe they should be kept in boxes for some time to be taken out and shown to a family member but I usually think that it is saved or it can go to the trash depends on how important it is

Hehehe I am also very orderly and I think I would do the same as you. My mother is as orderly and has to keep a suitcase full of toys from my childhood, and today I am 32 years old and a daughter of 1 year old, my baby plays with the toys that one day were mine. It is very exciting to watch her play with the toys that one day represented a lot of joy in my life, today they are for her.

It certainly is a delicate balance. I used to keep everything when I was younger and even with my first child, but now with 4 and having moved houses a couple times, it just doesn't really behoove us to hold on to so much. I do let the kids keep a plastic bin for what they believe is important, then every few months when it's full, we go through it together and by then they're often ready to get rid of things themselves. They'll look at a drawing, for example and say, "I can draw that much better now. Let's throw that away."

I have some of my kids work put in a box, for example, the drawing books. There can be too many of them, so I can not keep them all.

One day when when my kids grown up, they will see these drawing books and remember their memories of childhood. But it's just me 😂. Maybe they don't care.

My wife thinks differently. If the there's something littering on the floor or on tables, it will up in garbage bin.

I normally kept some of their things but mostly.....we trashed it. I mean.....that stuff collects very fast.

Without a doubt these memories for children are very valuable and unforgettable my friend @brian.rrr, I do not have children at the moment but I have lived experiences similar to yours where I have seen children get upset or start crying because their parents throw them to the garbage a drawing that for them is a "work of art" he throws with his own hand. This is very important for them because I think they feel that they do it very well even though it is not, but that's how nice they appreciate their drawings and they always want to have them in their memories and physically, that's why The best thing that we can do as parents is to save every drawing they make and that is a super tip that at least you just gave me as a good father that you are. And I am sure that when Jacop crests and sees his drawings he will laugh a lot and remember those moments even if they are few but he will do it.

Though I'll never be in this exact situation, it's a tough one to think about. I'm not much of a sentimental guy though, and like you, we live in a pretty minimalist setup. If I come across something in storage that I haven't used in 2 or 3 years, we chuck it.

Thank you for sharing with us stories from your real life . I liked the way you treated you, and the method you followed in raising your children . It is necessary to get rid of some of the objects but it is necessary to preserve the other which will be a wary part of their memories in the future .
For me, i make a lot of use of your experiences , thank you @brian .

I think it's important to keep things or something that can be memorable. Until now I still keep my student identity card. Though it looks damaged already.
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One or two piece must be save..I also save and keep that type thing ...Because after a long time when we saw it we get a lot of happiness 😇

Hopefully Jacob is good. Small memories are always sweet and if these memories are big, playing a very big role for everyone's life, you are presently living in the same senseless situation your child is really very nice. I hope your child Jacob is big enough Some of the size will surprise you and today's Jacob is another big scene within a few days Tantamulaka because the role of Jacob, his creativity is trying to show the short time I hope to do something very soon :)

god bless to your son jacob :)

Take a picture of them all, and keep only one or two of your favorites. You can fit a ton of pictures onto a small SD card ;)

Thanks for sharing this post, actually childhood memories I drawing this same art. I appreciate your life my dear friend.... best of luck.

Just say you are putting it away for safe keeping and when they are not looking just dump it

keeping them for memory sake is a nice idea, so the kids in the future can look and remember their childhood

Sir @brian.rrr,

My parent ware also like you. They also did these with me.. My story is same to Jacob. It reminds these things and laugh at myself. Best of luck for jacob.

I like to keep my daughter's art works, I try to choose among the best ones and keep them in a small box. when I grow up I will show you his adorable paintings! xD

It is very common, in particular my daughter likes to keep so many things and not only drawings infinities of things or objects that can be found and likes or damaged toys ellso are always carried away and bringing things when we see at home we have many drawings or many things that they collect

I keep art work , achievements etc each year my son was at school , we cleaned out the house as we was decorating and I found a LOT of memories so I went through them all and streamlined it all under the watchful eye of hubby , luckily though my son was not around and as he's 17 now he would be mortified I kept such things so I don't think he would be bothered : /

I had not read the article I only saw the photo and I remember that many of the drawings that my daughters colored saved them until recently, because now I collect the works of art of my grandchildren, when we make family gatherings I always take out their creations and laugh. But of course each family is different and at least some of their creations have been saved.

I like your writing, because in the past I wrote an anecdote about my granddaughter, she gave her teacher a gift, and the teacher mistakenly threw it in the trash, my granddaughter realized and really fell ill to both 2 since the girl complained to her teacher, the teacher tried to downplay the issue, and said: make another drawing for me, she replied: no teacher to bounce it again. That's why I liked reading that you as parents do the right thing, save treasure for tomorrow, maybe he forgets it, but it's better to save them, just in case. Enjoy your story very much. Greetings.

I like to read your way of guiding your children, little Jacob is so sweet that I already think he is my little son, the situation of keeping memories is often complicated, I also go to have the minimum at home, but my life has changed since I am a mother, life changes to be what they like to be, I don't want to imagine the look on Jacob's face when he sees his work of art in the dumpster, maybe it's a big disappointment, but in the end the parents are right, filling the house with souvenirs could be heavy, in the end it ends up being a pile of rubbish piled up on hillsides of it! Maybe you can reward him, with some drawings on the refrigerator door (just for a few days), it works for me, maybe for you too! in any case, as long as we show the love we have for our children, I don't think it matters much what we throw away! bless the family, greetings and excuse my mistakes in english, use translator

Very beautiful and beautiful painting
You are a really wonderful artist

whats about the art work? its looks pretty man

ya its good after playing the toys.

I would suggest giving each kid a small box they can keep this sort of thing in, and let them make the decisions about what to keep, with the understanding that they can only keep what they can put in the box. That way they can learn to prioritize their own things while still having the opportunity to save the ones that are important to them.

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