Advice needed from Kondo aficionados

[ItsMyIssue]

How did you deal with memory boxes for children? I’ve been putting away pictures, cards, certificates, sports badges, school books etc. for years but I need to seriously cull it because I want the space. There are just so many lovely happy memories but I’m seriously wondering what is the point? are they really going to want it? Advice or tips please.

Digitise it?

It would come under sentimental I think. She says by the time you get to sentimental your sense of spark joy should be honed well enough to decide what to keep. And then you should store them in a way which sparks joy, usually as a display.

So I think in your shoes - I'd get something like a photo album for each child, and store whatever will fit in there, cull the rest. Just save interesting pages from school books rather than the whole thing. A sew on type badge ought to fit in a photo sleeve. If they are pin badges you could give them to them to keep in their rooms and choose to wear as accessories or not. Or pin and sew badges onto a Rucksack, hat or scarf?

It’s a difficult one and I’m struggling with it. I only have one DD and have amassed a huge trawl of everything from favourite books, clothes, uniforms as well as artwork, school work, reports, certificates etc. I’ve passed most of it on to DD to decide what to do with. I said to get rid of what she doesn’t want. I’m glad I’ve not honed it down to a few items only which can be displayed because already DGD is wearing her mums favourite coat from when she was a toddler and I know she will enjoy the books I’ve kept on to. I wanted DD to be able to see her stuff from childhood and be able to share it with her family if she wanted to.

I’d have 2 big shoe box size for each child- one for early childhood/primary, another for teen years.

Adults get one childhood, one adulthood.

For paintings/ jotters we have box files and keep one of each per year.

I don’t think this is a lot of space for the joy I get from nostalgia.

This is what attics are for!

Some fantastic ideas thanks. I’ve got one box each for the children and then it’s going in the loft. I’ve thrown nearly twenty years of my birthday cards away today. I have never looked at them since the day they went in the box. Very cathartic.