Have you ever felt like you were completely overwhelmed?
That you were being attacked (relentlessly) by something every day and you had no idea how to get out of it?
I have felt this MANY, MANY times in parenting. Truly.
But most recently, it’s been in regards to something that should be a blessing instead of a burden: All of those school papers (and those adorably cute pictures that my children make).
I mean, look at these things! How could I ever feel upset in any way by such priceless treasures?
And yet, here’s the rub: Because I didn’t have a way to manage them, these blessings had very quickly turned into a burden.
And with the dawn of a new school year upon us (and the promise of oodles of more adorable papers), I knew that this was an issue that I needed to tackle.
Like… right now.
Taking Action Against the Kids School Paper Pile
So, I’ve spent the last few weeks cleaning up and cleaning out.
And pledging to not let things get like this again.
The good news? I have hope that it won’t because I’ve put in place three simple systems that seem to be working really well!
1) I developed a new organizing system called “My Memory Box.”
You guys! I’m super excited about this. “My Memory Box: Kids’ School Paper Organizing System” is both pretty and practical (and did I mention Superman-powerful in combating those nasty stacks of kids school papers?).
Here’s how it works: Download the “My Memory Box” printable here and then print off your copies of the file folder box label, the 15 folder labels, and 15 file folder tabs.
You can pick from 4 different colors: Pink, Blue, Green and Orange (not pictured). You’ll want to print off one colored set for each child.
You’ll also need (for each child):
•1 plastic file folder box, preferably with a lid and an inside lip in which to hang folders
•15 letter-sized hanging files and corresponding plastic tabs
•1 glue stick
•scissors and/or a paper trimmer
Then simply cut out everything and glue the box label to the front of the box; glue the 15 file folder labels to the front of the hanging files; and insert the file folder tabs into the plastic tabs.
That’s it! THEN you’ll have a great framework to do steps number two and three!
2) I don’t save everything.
Oh, this was hard for me. Because, you know, some of our kids school papers are just so darn cute.
But in reality, do I need 30 copies of the same adorably drawn snowman by my three-year-old? Probably not.
So I’m being ruthless. I’m really thinking about what’s important to hang on to.
If you can’t bring yourself to be ruthless, you can always take pictures of all the artwork and keep a digital copy of all your items. This would eliminate the paper clutter and yet you could still keep the artwork.
This isn’t a good option for me, however, because I already have WAY too much stuff on my hard drive. And my husband (who happens to work in the computer storage industry) would be less than happy for me to have a separate hard drive just for our kids’ artwork stash. Ahem.
So I’m continuing on with my plan to be ruthless. (I mean, not TOO ruthless. There is lots of room in those plastic file folder boxes…)
3) I’m putting things in the box right away.
I was tempted to get a set of those black plastic inbox/outbox trays for my desk… you know, so I could have a landing place for my kids’ school papers.
Anyone else see the irony here? Sigh.
So I’m keeping the boxes easily accessible in our school area, and putting the papers right in the box. First time.
It’s really not too hard, actually. In fact, it’s rather freeing and liberating to know that the stacks just won’t exist anymore because I am putting them right in the box.
In fact, the idea of NO STACKS keeps me faithful to putting my papers in the box (and not in a pile on my desk).
How about you? Do you have a problem with kids school papers stacking up everywhere?
What’s your plan of attack for your kids school papers this school year?
This post contributed by Alicia from Your Vibrant Family
