Kondoing old birthday/Mother's Day/anniversary cards

[Grandmaw]

Decided to start Kondoing the loft and yesterday brought down a box containing old letters , cards etc.
There are birthday cards/ anniversary cards etc from my late husband and hand made cards from my boys when they were at school ( the chick popping out of a broken eggshell type Easter card).
What do I do with them? They have been in the loft for years and I have never looked at them. I will give the boys cards back to them ( if they throw them out that is up to them). But the others .......... My head says recycle but my heart says keep! What do you do?

I would scan the ones where that is possible and photograph the ones that aren't (e.g. the pop up cards) -even if you decide to keep some on them.

Then knowing that you will always be able to look at them decide which ones you really want to keep. There is nothing wrong with keeping things that mean a lot to you.

OP, have you finished all the other categories? Because sentimental items are meant to be left till last, for good reason. You need your best decision-making head on for this stuff, and the idea is that you'll have had so much practice by the end, it'll come much more naturally.

If you're ready for the cards, then deal with them one at a time, or a small group at a time. You don't have to make the same decision for the entire collection. For example, if you have 20 birthday cards from your late husband, you might want to choose one or two to keep that trigger particularly good memories. But really analyse your feelings about keeping those cards... Do they bring you straightforward joy, or is it mixed with guilt or regret? Do they help you to understand your past and move on, or are they rooting you in the past.

If you decide to get rid of the cards, I wouldn't recommend digitising them. If they really bring you joy, or if you're not ready to make the decision, then keep them. If you don't want to keep the cards themselves, why complicate the decision with a digital record. Yes, it's less physical stuff, but I think it has the same emotional effect.

I kept any that 'resonated' with me ie had a heartfelt meaningful message - maybe sort them out into piles of cards from DH, cards from kids etc then pick out them up one by one and keep those that you really want to.
I know it's not as simple as this, but they have been in the loft for years and you have never felt the need to look at them or read them, do they bring you 'joy' or have you felt obligated to keep them out of guilt ?
I chopped the front of the majority of mine and gave them to a pre-school and friends who make cards so they can 'live' on it that way . I def find it much easier to allow sentimental items to leave the house when I know they are being re-used, I struggle with items being chucked in the bin .

I did this about 6 m ago , as part of a major de-clutter, having cleared out the houses of two elderly people (horrifying) and in view of possibly of a downsize .The advice I read (and I'm trying to work on the William Morris principle) was to buy a really nice box (size up to you) and put into it anything sentimental you want to keep . I kept the only 2 Valentines I have from DH (pre -marriage)and a couple of 'I miss you ' type notes. (our courtship was before email, txt and social media), I kept engagement/wedding cards(had about 300) only from DPs, DPsIL(all dead) ,DB and a couple of close friends who had written really nice things in them . Also a couple of telegrams (work colleagues) as I don't think you can do them now and thought DDs might be amused .Not yet ready to do the Birth Congrats! Proper sympathy letters on DPs deaths I kept, but not the cards. . A few examples of Cs drawings,Mothers day cards, print outs of emails from Uni etc at different ages (I had tons).Their school reports I gave back to them .Kept mine and DH, again because I thought DDs might be interested one day. Kept various other sundry items -my wedding dress,christening gown., for example . And my teddy bear... The diaries ( now redacted!) I kept of late pregnancy, labour and the first year of each of their lives . The 'word lists' I made as they learnt to talk . You can see it was a big task...
My box is actually quite big (enough to sit on) and covered in butterflies, very pretty. Now 'sits' in what is nominally DD2 bedroom . I have vowed never to let my collection get bigger than it will hold. It does mean I'm more inclined to have a happy browse occasionally (was all in the loft before). And when I'm gone, everything, apart from photos, which I intend to cull and/or digitise is together and will be much easier for DDs to go through .