Tell me I won't scar my kids if I throw out their artwork..

[jgenie]

Both DC will have 3 yrs of preschool before they start K. I have saved every piece of paper they have brought home. We just moved and I packed boxes of their papers. Please tell me they'll survive if I throw it all out. They have a portfolio that their teachers gave them at the end of the year for each year with artwork. I'm thinking I'll just hold on to those. Thoughts? TIA

[trcy]

I will be watching this. I have saved all of DD's artwork from daycare and she has been in since ten weeks old. Needless to say, it is getting out of control.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

My kids have been in daycare for just one year and I've thrown 90% of their artwork out. There is no way I could deal with it all. I only save the ones where the teacher takes a pic of them making the artwork and pastes it on.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Take pictures of it first. If you feel ambitious, turn it into a photo book. I have also taken videos of ds talking about the art- describing what's happening, why it's special...- and those are neat to have.

[onyx8]

We take photos of most of the art then toss it. I only keep a few things.

[mmommy]

You won't. I have a friend whose Mom saved everything. Now, DF is 37 and feels a burden of boxes and boxes of 'art' that nobody wants to look at.
Save a few pieces from each year and get rid of the rest. Take photos if you're worried about it. We take photos & mail originals to MIL or use them as wrapping paper or collage materials. Our holiday decorations each year include paper chains made from strips cut from DDs art.
Btw, I'm an artist, and my mom didn't save all if my artwork. I don't think it scarred me.

Eta: here's a review of some good apps for keeping track of artwork/memories: http://tinyurl.com/lphz5ak

[amom526]

They will thank you! I also have boxes of art from when I was little and I have no use for it but feel bad throwing it out at this point.

I have a clothesline hanging in our hallway where I hang things as ds1 (2.5) brings them home. Lots of things go straight in the trash, but things he is excite about get hung up. When the line is full, he knows we need to throw something out to make room. He doesn't really get upset, and I think it is a healthy attitude to be teaching him. I do have one bin in the basement for things I want to save, but very very few things go in there - just special photo projects and things like that. There is no way I could save all those things, I hate clutter and am constantly trying to get rid of stuff.

[hillview]

I've tossed just about everything except a few items from each year.

[edurnemk]

I take pictures of everything and then throw everything out. I plan on making a picture book of their artwork. I don't throw things out immediately, I wait for a few months until they forget about it, LOL. You will not scar them. My mom saved EVERYTHING and it deteriorates with time, anyway. My mom brought those boxes out a couple of years ago and asked me if I wanted to keep all my childhood artwork and stuff, and I said "no thanks, you can throw it out if you want" I don't need more clutter and I'm not emotionally attached to it.

[carolinacool]

The only things I save are holiday things or anything where they used his hand or foot print. Or anything he seems attached to, like the paper plate that he glued Cheerios on a couple of weeks ago. So 95 percent of the stuff goes out. I don't even take a picture. :bag I love my DS, but he is not an artist at all. Everything is mainly scribbles or random paint strokes.

[swissair81]

Unless it's very cool, I take pictures of it on my phone and ditch.

[TwinFoxes]

They can go to group therapy with my girls if they're scarred. They did an art project every day in Pre-K. There's just no way. Especially since 1/2 of them fell apart by the time they made it home. Toss.

[georgiegirl]

I've tossed just about everything except a few items from each year.

Ditto this!

DS makes several pieces of "art" every day in pre-k. The other parents and I joke about strategically placing a recycle bin on our way of our school.

[brittone2]

We HS, so there's no way I would ever keep even 1/10 of it all. I have them keep some things in one of those large Alex art portfolios, because in my state I have to hand in a year end port to the local SD. We keep their paintings done as part of an art history course because they put more time into those and they usually write something on the back related to the artist (a sentence for DD, a paragraph for DS1). I pick some of those to include in their port to demonstrate that we covered history and art.

[twowhat?]

We even throw out (recycle) the Mother's and Father's Day cards that they make :bag

I will take photos if it's especially cute or funny, but I find that of all the photos I've taken, I've never once gone back to take a look!

[chiisai]

Like a lot of others on this thread, I take pictures of them and then throw 99% away. I keep a few, 2 - 3, from each year from each kid.

I don't have any from my childhood at all. I'm not scarred in any way by it, heh, but I do think it would have been fun to look back at some of it.

[waitingforgrace]

Oh man, I toss everything unless it's a craft that includes a picture of the DC or is a "what I love about my mom/dad/sibling" type thing. Run of the mill "artwork" - I pitch immediately. We get at least 3 things sent home every day, no way will I keep it all. Holiday themed pieces I hang in the playroom for a few weeks, but rotate it out constantly.

[BabyBearsMom]

If it scars them my kids must irreparably damaged and they seem fine. I throw out just about everything. I rotate their art in my office and on the fridge. I give some to the grandmas and I toss the rest. I don't feel guilty. It would be overwhelming otherwise.

[lizzywednesday]

I tape it to her bedroom door for a couple of months & then we toss.

Most things, I toss. I'd save everything if I let myself!

[Nooknookmom]

Well, I have several bins full of our 18yo's artwork! I did FINALLY start saving only the "important" or sentimental work. I still can't toss my baby's stuff! Even tho she is in college.

With our first grader I toss homework unless its very special and save her major drawings. If I didn't toss some I'd be on "hoarders-buried alive" bc ALL dd2 does for fun is draw and craft. I have a little Matisse in the making.

[essnce629]

You've kept EVERY single piece that's come home?!?! I think I'd need another room in my house if I did that!

I keep the really nice stuff and then eventually go through it again and pick out what I really want to save. Those pieces get laminated and put in a binder labeled by grade (preschool, Kinder, etc). In the end there's probably about 20 pieces of art that I keep each year. Now that DS1 is older (10) there's less art and more writing assignments plus 1 or 2 tests that I save.

[123LuckyMom]

I keep NOTHING unless it has a photo. I'm a sucker for stuff with a photo. Otherwise, I take a pictures itch my phone, and the original goes straight into paper recycling.

[zag95]

I took pictures of all the art DD did when she was in her 3's class and made a photo book of that year (there were a few with her holding it too!). Added in a few photos of her at school, halloween and easter parties After taking the photos, I put in a acid free storage box (that I got at an art store). At the end of the year, we purged down a ton of stuff. We added more for the next year, and purged more from age 4. Now we are in K, and have very few art projects coming home! Plan on doing another purge during Xmas break!