The Age-Old Dilemma Of “What do I do with all my kid’s drawings?” Has Finally Been Solved.

If it comes off of my child’s body – teeth, hair, umbilical cords – I do not keep it.  I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with displaying a tuft of hair or a crusty, decomposing umbilical stub in a shadow box…it’s just not for me.

But drawings, doodles, scraps of napkin with a tic-tac-toe scribbled on it…now that’s a different story and if you ask me, I just love drawing so much, I even have one of the best tablets for drawing.  There’s just something about the preciousness of anything that my child creates that turns me into Crazy Mommy Artwork Hoarder.  I am seriously tempted to keep it all…every single piece of adorable artwork.

But, sadly, I can’t.  There are not enough Tupperware totes in the universe to store – let alone organize – all of my children’s creative output.

I may not be able to keep everything, but I have figured out a way to store and organize the true keepers.  The pieces of artwork that really are worth saving.

I give you…Mommy’s Memory Binders.

These things have literally allowed me to breathe a little easier.  Nowadays, I can toss out some of my kids’ doodles without breaking into an anxious sweat and doubting my own love for my children.  Nowadays, if my kid comes up with a gem of a drawing, I know exactly what to do with it…rather than nervously stuffing it underneath the silverware organizer and promising myself that I will never forget any of the circumstances surrounding the creation of said artwork.

These are so simple, folks.  Here’s how they work:

1. Every kid gets a 2-inch binder.  In the front pocket, put whatever you want to personalize it.  I simply put one of their uniquely-them drawings in the front to mark it as their binder.
2. Each binder will get 3 tab dividers.  The first one is labeled:  Funny Phrases.  The second is labeled:  Cards and Letters.  The third is labeled:  Drawings.
3. Funny Phrases:  In this section, I keep a running list of the hilarious things that my kid says.  I begin a new list at every birthday.  Every time my kid says something that I literally never want to forget, I write it down along with the date.
   
   
4. Cards and Letters:  This is simply a collection of the most special cards, mail, letters, and notes that my child has received.  I place them in clear page protectors.
   
   
5. Drawings:  Only the best make it to the binder.  Train yourself to throw most of it away.  (If I can do it, I promise that you can!)  Whenever something absolutely precious comes along, place it in a clear page protector in the binder.  On the back of everything that I keep, I write the date, their age, and what the drawing is.
   
   

I keep our binders on my desk in our kitchen.  That way, they are handy whenever the time comes to write down something funny or stick in a piece of their artwork.  Accessibility is key; if you can’t get to them easily, you’ll never get around to preserving the memory.

It makes me so happy to know that one day, decades from now, I will have a binder filled with lots of funny and special memories that I can flip through.  And who knows…maybe I’ll be selfless or something and pass it on to my children’s spouses.  But that’s probably not going to happen.

How have you overcome the urge to keep everything?  What are your own tricks for organizing and storing your children’s artwork?

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of one fine man and the momma of four (huge) young children – three boys and one princess! I love all of them. I mostly clean up messes and feed people all day, and it’s really fun to write about it. Jesus is the rock of my family – we love and serve a mighty King! I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.