How long do you let your dc keep their valentines?

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

DD came home with a bag full of them and is enjoying them very much. She's still taking them out of the bag and counting them. So how long do you let your dc keep them before they mysteriously disappear? I feel so guilty about throwing them away but in a few months they'll be under the bed anyway.

[bnme]

I have a hard time with stuff like this. I think I just recently threw out last years! This year I have a plastic storage bin in the garage where I put all their school crafts & the valentines will go in there soon. Right now I save everything from school. My plan is to go through that and cut down on what we keep.

I also just bought a shoe-box sized storage tote for each. I call it their memory box. Right now it has stuff from our Disney trip in it (autograph books, park maps). Problem is DS wants to put everything in it. I want to let him decide what goes in there, but I am also trying to teach him the difference between keepsakes and everyday junk.

[Momof3Labs]

I wait until his interest has diminished. If he were still counting and looking at them, I'd leave them alone. Eventually something else will take its place, and the Valentines will hit the recycle bin!

[lmintzer]

Lol! My first grader still has his from last year! I guess I'm not so good about making things disappear.

[Marisa6826]

Um, I went through them (and tossed 'em) as soon as I brought them in the house. Seriously, Sophie never even *asked* about them. Not a single one was handmade, they were all the generic ones from Target (identical to the ones we gave!), and really, 90% of them weren't even signed by the kids themselves.

Otherwise, they'd be sitting in a pile on my kitchen counter for a couple weeks. And then when I couldn't stand looking at them anymore, I'd finally go through and toss them.

I know. I'm a grinch.

-m

[s7714]

They'll get tossed after my DDs have drawn on them, put stickers on them and probably cut them up into little pieces. Or if I notice they are starting to go untouched for a while, they'll start mysteriously making their way to the garbage. Although last night I tried to dispose of the dreidel shaped paper thing she made in preschool while learning about Chanukah. It's been untouched in our drawing box for a month now, but she still threw a fit when she saw it in the trash can. :rolleye0014:

[MarisaSF]

The ones from school went in one door and out another pretty quickly. ;)

The handmade one from a good friend stayed on our fridge for a couple days. The ones from grandparents got a place on a hall table for a couple days too.

[KBecks]

Once Alek lost interest and they were scattered all over the floor, I tossed them (Saturday). If he wanted to keep them I would give him the option of keeping them neatly in a shoe box or dresser drawer. We're not at that stage yet. When they're under the bed, then its' time to toss.

[o_mom]

As I find them on the floor they go in the trash - shouldn't be more than a week until they are all gone here. DS is having fun with them - sorting, counting, giving them out to all of us, so as long as the mess is contained he can keep at it.