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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be unsentimental?

17 replies

Merryoldgoat · 21/07/2022 15:57

My son has brought a load of stuff home from school - books, little sketches, notes etc.

I’m tempted to throw them away but this feels cold - AIBU?

YABU - keep the stuff you unfeeling cow
YANBU - bin it - it’s all nonsense

I obviously keep the things like cards and certificates and pics he draws for me specifically

OP posts:
WellINeverKnewWho · 21/07/2022 15:59

YANBU but then I am grumpy cow with a multitude of childhood trauma issues 😂

ImAvingOops · 21/07/2022 16:01

If you keep everything your kids bring home, you won't be able to get through your front door in a few years!
You can photograph things as a reminder. I have kept cards and little stories the kids wrote - anything personal. But I ditched all their school books for maths and science, basically all the job personal stuff.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 21/07/2022 16:01

If you have the room keep them. You can never get them back.

Still got all mine in the attic. 20-25 years. Would never bin ANYthing.

MintJulia · 21/07/2022 16:01

You can't keep everything. I tend to keep anything noteworthy, so one essay that got through to the last 200 in a national competition, and an A3 pencil sketch that is so good I had it mounted and framed.

Apart from that I just keep annual school reports.

Bunty55 · 21/07/2022 16:08

I have three children - all grown up. I saved every painting and creation they ever did from Nursery to high school etc etc...

When my youngest son died I sorted all his work out - all the handmade birthday and mother's day cards and school text books paintings - the lot. It is all there in a massive memory chest in my living room which I go into every now and then when I feel the need and I am so glad I did this now.

nonevernotever · 21/07/2022 16:12

I think I would combine a couple of pp's suggestions and keep a few things, and photograph the rest before binning. I use Notion following a suggestion on another thread about using it to keep copies of household documents where you don't need to keep a paper version. Could you also involve your son in choosing? Is there a particular piece that he's really proud of for instance, or did he just bring everything home because that was what was expected of him and he doesn't actually care about it?

Coastalcreeksider · 21/07/2022 16:15

I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours last year after clearing out dad's loft to sell his house and finding a pile of school reports on my brother. They were really funny, some of the teachers remarks were quite witty.

From the reports he was a non stop yakker, often butting in on the teacher trying to help another child with something and leaving his seat to wander over to other kids for no apparent reason.

He was between 5 and 8 at the time, he's 65 now.

So glad mum and dad kept them. 😂

RishiRich · 21/07/2022 16:17

YANBU. I tend to keep them out of guilt, then get periodically annoyed at the amount of Stuff and throw them away when the kids aren't here. You might as well skip the middle step.

onelittlefrog · 21/07/2022 16:18

As an adult I am sad that my mum didn't keep any of my school stuff to look back on (she even threw away some stuff I'd kept in a clear out once I'd left home!)

He might enjoy looking back on it when he's an adult - or you might, you never know. I've recently loved looking back at my DH's school work that his mum kept, it gives me a window into what kind of child he was which is really fun and a nice connection to have to his past.

If you have space, I would keep some.

oldtableleg · 21/07/2022 16:23

take photos of anything noteworthy, bung them on the cloud & then recycle ... if there's anything they are desperate to keep it can stay in their room. Fortunately my kids are as unsentimental as me or we'd be drowning in paper.

easyday · 21/07/2022 16:27

You will be driving if you keep it all! I kept a couple of the best things, especially if they were those little diaries about what they did at the weekend. But the rest - Chuck it!

Carrieonmywaywardsun · 21/07/2022 16:29

Keep a couple of bits- drawings or work he's proud of each year and keep them in a folder or a box. It helps to see his progress if you have something to look back at as well.

ImAvingOops · 21/07/2022 16:38

The thing with keeping it all is a) what happens if you have several kids? And b) keeping everything means creating a lot of work for your kids when eventually they have to go through and dispose of it all.

PintofPlain · 21/07/2022 17:05

Of course you’re not unreasonable. I have a friend who lives with her eight year old in a tiny Manhattan studio where there isn’t an inch to spare — she has a frame on the wall for that kind of thing, so only one or two things can be in their home at any one point. Pretty much a ‘one in one out’ policy.

Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 21/07/2022 17:13

Bunty55 · 21/07/2022 16:08

I have three children - all grown up. I saved every painting and creation they ever did from Nursery to high school etc etc...

When my youngest son died I sorted all his work out - all the handmade birthday and mother's day cards and school text books paintings - the lot. It is all there in a massive memory chest in my living room which I go into every now and then when I feel the need and I am so glad I did this now.

Oh goodness - that must’ve been heartbreaking ❤️

OP posts:
Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 21/07/2022 17:18

Thank you all.

My DS rarely cares about the stuff he brings back but I DO have a few things framed that are particularly special.

I’ll look through them and take some pics.

I think I saw a company turning the stuff into photo books so that may be an option.

I don’t feel so heartless now though!!

OP posts:
bluekostree · 21/07/2022 17:19

I take a picture on my phone of the special ones and then recycle everything.

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