As I was looking through Laurissa's memory box, now that she is getting ready for college...it was a bit sad. Hard to believe everything from her baby shower to her graduation is in one box. It will be complete at the end of this summer. WOW! I am glad I took the time to save the things I did and even the things she wanted to keep that at the time I thought were really NOT necessary. Those little scribbles and "important" papers have become just as precious to me.
It is no secret that I have no patience for scrapbooking. I wish I had beautiful books gracing my shelves of well-documented pages and labeled photographs of my children growing up, but I don't.
Baby shower cards were wrapped in recycled gift ribbon, and put into an envelope.
My children each have a memory box that is basically a rubbermaid portable file box. Pretty sure it is not of archival quality either. :)
At the beginning of every school year I put a new marked manilla folder with their name and grade and keep it with my everyday files. During the year I file everything that is special to them: pictures, sports awards, birthday cards tied together, movie stubs, tickets to special events, notes, drawings, report cards, notes from teachers, yearbooks and summer memorabilia. At the end of the summer it gets filed into their memory box. It keeps their rooms cleared from clutter, doesn't get lost, and is a fun activity to pull out once in awhile.
I know it isn't fancy schmazy, but it is a fast, easy way to stay organized and "scrapbook" your child's memories without being too time consuming.
When we were putting Laurissa's senior memory board together, it was easy to go to the box and get what was needed for a detailed project. I would suggest always marking the year and grade on the back of filed papers etc, so it is eay to put back if it is used for something...
So glad I have one box filled with memories for each of the children. It is nice and compact, so that when they leave home, it will not take up too much space.
I have given two of these away as baby shower gifts and they were so appreciated. I know. Not very fun, but for a mom who hates organizing things, it is a welcomed gift. :) I pre-labeled all of the manilla folders and made a label for the front. They turned out adorable! For you crafty people out there, I am sure you could really have fun embellishing this idea!
How do you organize your children's papers?
*This post is shared with: women living well
They are on the top of my shelf in a growing pile... I like your idea! We do scrapbook but it's only one running family album and I don't put a ton of papers, cards and memorobilia. I'll have to start doing more of that. Thanks for the great ideas. Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteI don't even know how I found your blog-lol...I was just flipping around from one blog to the next. Anyway, I did the same thing with all 4 of my kids papers, etc. I have never scrapbooked either (sorry to say). About 5 years ago I took all the boxes (which are almost identical to yours) and gave them to the kids one Christmas afternoon. They had such fun going through them. I did put together photo albums for them too though. One with each of the 8x10 pictures from K on and another album of "siblings of yours"..and then one devoted solely to them. They were not grand productions either. Just laid them out by years and stuck them in albums. Each kid got 4 or 5 albums altogether.
ReplyDeleteThe other "trick" I had when my kids were growing up was to just jot things on a daily calendar-you know. first step, first tooth, etc. I then made copies of the calendars and gave them to the kids in their "box of memories".
I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one keeping all these little odds and ends. The only problem...Ryder's box is already full and he's not even in the first grade yet. Yikes. I'm in BIG trouble!!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I absolutely LOVE the idea of giving a box as a baby shower gift. SO FUN!! They have cute, fun colored, archival boxes at The Container Store (and Ikea) that fit regular file folders. That's what I use - each kids get their own color!
Anyway, thanks for the fun post. Can't WAIT to see you on Wednesday. Love you, friend!!
I have our sons in many weird boxes. One for each grade. Your idea sounds much more concise. I need to do this soon since this is our senior year coming up. It will save a ton of space in my closet!
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful thing that you have done for your children! I guess what I most kept were the kids' writings. It's fun now to read the stories and thoughts they had when they were young.
ReplyDeleteYour idea of a box as a gift is brilliant. Too often we think of those things later, after years have gone by. Thanks for bringing this great idea to our attention!
just had to let yo know that I thought this was pretty neat-o
ReplyDeleteThis is a GREAT idea! You know I am not the best at organizing but this is something I can probably pull off :) I'm also planning on turning our family blog into a book every year in place of a more traditional scrapbook (though this assumes my blog is caught up!) Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing idea. As we speak I have a pile of J-boy's Kindergartens sitting on my dining room bench. They have been there since school ended. I've been trying to figure out how to sort the kids papers!! (I have good intentions with scrapbooking, but never do it!)
ReplyDeleteI absoulutely love this idea. I'm gonna go get me some file boxes!! Thanks again!!