The story below is from our September/October 2020 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially when you’re looking at kids’ art.
Christy Rippel
My daughter’s sea turtle drawing from her extracurricular art class--keeper drawer.
A friend of mine posted a question on Facebook: “What do you do with your kids’ art?” It was a while back so I feel like I can safely out her (You know who you are, JEN.), but she was genuinely stressed by the piles of paper growing around her home. There were a number of replies, including making an elaborate book, or framing suggestions. Companies have even sprung up to deal with this, like ArtKIVE and Plum Print, but may I suggest an easy and affordable solution, mom colleagues? Two items are needed. One, a deep drawer. No drawer? A box will do. Grab that one from the Amazon crap you just ordered that you don’t need. And two, the trash bin.
I admit I struggled with this too, when my oldest was an only, a post he occupied for four years. Everything he did looked like a young Picasso in the making. I saved it all, putting it in a lidded box, or hanging favorites on the fridge and the bulletin board for any visitors to admire. Then his brother came along, toting home his own creations from preschool and playdates, and then boom! I had kids numbers three and four, and we were drowning in Crayola creations.
Christy Rippel
My son’s handmade valentine box dubbed “The Explosion” was trash bound after the class party.
I first tried to make the kids select their favorites to keep. They love them all...and the more glitter, the better. (I have glitter from 2006 stuck in random places, like sleeping bags and hand-me-down clothes. It sneaks out and surprises me a couple times a year).
Me: “Amelia, do we really want to save this snowman you made in art? He’s now missing all of his face.” Amelia: “Nooooo. That’s my FAVORITE.”
Everything is the favorite. They want to keep it all. So I started a new tactic, which is throwing out their art when they aren’t in the room. Now, I know this will be tougher for those of you on your first child (see above) and for those who lean to the super sentimental. But the longer you’re at it, the easier it becomes to determine the real keepers from the trash bound. My son’s gigantic valentine holder, made from an extra large shoebox and dubbed “the explosion”? Trash. My daughter’s sea turtle drawing, the first thing she made in her extracurricular art class, the one she was so incredibly proud of? Keeper drawer.
Now, if you want to venture beyond my suggested drawer and your trash, may I suggest a third category, which is “On deck trash.” This is the stuff that doesn’t rise to the level of keeper, but is something you definitely want gone from your house. I’ve had a tri-fold science project on deck since last year. It’s been marinating in the filth of my 11-year-old’s closet, and soon I’ll move it to the storage area. If we go six months without him asking to see it, it will disappear, like a mafia informant. A bulletin board is also a great spot for on deck trash. They can see it, you can admire it, and then it gets replaced when the next favorite comes home.
As for the science project tri-fold, he was proud of it. We were proud of him for doing it. But we have pictures of him presenting it, and working on it. We don’t need the evidence.
Stuff is tricky business. It’s sometimes hard to part with things that remind you of an earlier time in your life, or your kids’ lives. I’ve tried to keep the best of the past, but remember that it wasn’t all rainbows and roses. That picture of your family that your kid created in preschool and gave to you? It’s awesome. But also don’t forget you were drowning in the early years of motherhood and barely had time to shower. You cried when he gave it to you, not just because it was beautiful. But because your hormones were all over the place from just having given birth to his brother.
Holding on to the best momentos of their past is such a worthy goal. I think we’ll all be so glad we did it later. But you’ll want to open that drawer and marvel at your carefully curated collection, instead of having to plow through every school paper and art project and book report your kid ever brought home. So get working on that drawer, moms. When they go off to college, we can take it all out and make elaborate leather bound books or house it in custom frames. We’ll finally have the time.
The story above is from our September/October 2020 issue. For the full story subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!