A Working Mom's Blog...displaying and saving school work (proud mom can't part with them!)

From the very first time I met other new parents at daycare until the first time I met new parents at elementary school, I'm continuously looking for ideas for displaying and keeping the wonderful things my daughters have written and drawn. 

The new school year has just begun - and I just finished tucking away last year's treasures of artwork, tests, notes from teachers...etc! It's thrilling and overwhelming all at the same time.

The method to my madness now? Well, after trying neat boxes and containers and then feeling as if we wouldn't look through boxes to reminisce, I've turned to binders. It's my "photo album" approach to keeping artwork and school work. And the girls and I can flip through them and enjoy a stroll down memory lane. For some of the items that I just don't want to cut or hole-punch, I save them and use them as the background to scrapbook pages with actual photos.

During the year, we have what I like to call our "Wall of Fame." We have two of those skinny-corkboard-rows, one for each daughter. So when they bring the work home, we tack them up and enjoy them every day that we're in the kitchen. And the kids love feeling like their work is on display! (Especially when it sparks conversation and compliments from visitors.)

For this mom who has a hard time parting with things (I'm such a saver!), I usually give myself a deadline of winter vacation and then summer vacation - that's when I have to transition the wall-of-fame items to be binder-album pages...so that I'm ready for a new set of creative projects.

I'm trying to get better at dating their work. For drawings, I try to write down what the picture is depicting.

Both of my girls are gifted artists - they love to express themselves with art and writing, so I'm really lucky to have such tangibles from them. 

One of my favorite parts of holiday times like birthdays or Mother's Day is knowing I'll receive handmade cards. Rainbows, hearts, cheerful sentiments; love it, love it!!

My mom saved so much from my childhood that I love to look through; my daughters love to see those things, too. So I'm glad to follow that tradition, both to save such important items and to demonstrate that their handywork is magnificent and makes me proud.

I'd love to hear ideas from other parents! How do you save things?