This is a tricky issue for many of the clients I have worked with over the last ten years – what to keep from our kid’s childhood as memorabilia not only for us, but also that they may want in the future when they have children of their own.
Most of you will know from my earlier newsletters that I don’t tend to hold onto anything either from my past, or from those loved ones who have passed on. One of the reasons for that is that I just don’t have the space in my small home to store memorabilia, although I do have a couple of boxes of photos which I enjoy. So as you ready through my suggested guidelines below, I want you to really think about these objects, and are they actually creating value in your day to day life now or is the space they are taking up causing ‘storage stress’.
Here are my suggested guidelines that might help you to make these decisions.
– What are you going to hold onto either from your past or your children’s? Are they school books and reports, artwork, toys, wee baby clothes and those gorgeous little first shoes? The list here can be endless.
– Why are you keeping each of these items, and for whom? Are you holding onto them for you to take that lovely trip down memory lane in the future, or are you keeping them in trust for your grown up children to reclaim for themselves and their own offspring? If it’s the latter I suggest you ask your children if they actually want these things. And if they do want their stuff from their childhood, then give it to them now! You may find they decide at that point that they really don’t want it after all because they are trying to live a more minimalist lifestyle.
– Where are you going to store this memorabilia? Storage is something that almost all of us struggle with and it’s worth asking yourself – “am I really going to look at all of these things in the future, or would I rather have this storage space for my own everyday use?”
Please know that I in no way judge anyone for the items they choose to keep as memorabilia. I totally get the cute factor in those tiny baby clothes and shoes, their first books and toys, and such like. Maybe though there is a different way you can keep a record of each of these items:
– Photograph the kid’s artwork, and create a folder on your computer where you can keep these memories. Alternatively you could copy what one of my clients did, she bought a really large folder with plastic inserts into which she slotted her little girl’s artwork, and the folder then slid neatly out of sight under her sofa.
– Scan the kid’s reports or special certificates and create another sub-folder in your ‘memorabilia’ folder in your computer for these paper memories.
– Store your photos in folders in your computer in a cohesive system by creating sub-folders either by subject, by person, or by year so you can easily find them in the future. I have my screensaver set to scan through my photos so when I’m taking a break from my computer I get to see randomly selected photos of my loved ones, holidays, and fun times out with friends.
– Remember, what you have stored on your computer you can save onto The Cloud, and you can also download the kid’s memorabilia onto a USB drive and give it to them so they can enjoy what you scanned for them, without the physical objects taking up their own storage space.
– The tiny clothes and shoes, and other precious memorabilia can then be carefully stored away in a couple of beautiful storage boxes that can be slipped under a bed, at the top of a wardrobe, or even neatly stacked in a corner.
I hope this is helpful for you; I do know how hard some of these decisions can be but think about your desire for uncluttered spaces and even if you take on one or two of my suggestions here, you could free up some of those much needed storage areas. If you get stuck, drop me an email or call me – I’m really happy to help.
I wish you a joyous month ahead.
In Joy!
Angella Gilbert
P: 09 410 4166
M: 027 224 8937
E: angella.gilbert@xtra.co.nz
W: www.gioia.net.nz
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