Decluttering and feeling guilty about throwing out DC childhood drawings

[SugaryKrush]

Hi I'm in the middle of a declutter and I have loads of grown up DC art and schoolbooks from schooldays . I've taken photos of the best ones but I feel uncomfortable about putting them into the recycling . Aibu ?

Keep them. Then offer to the kids when they are older. I don’t have any of my childhood stuff, including photographs ( thanks so much dear stepfather, hope the bonfire kept your cold heart warm) and would have loved to have had the chance to choose what I wanted to keep.

You don’t have to declutter, it isn’t the law. Keep them if you want to. Photos are not the same.

Hi they are adults and have said they don't want them .

Fair enough, then recycle.

Can you display your favourites so you get the pleasure of seeing them every day and then recycle the rest?

Decluttering can be hard to do but if you can try to be reasonable then you will realize that we often keep way too much stuff and it is mostly a burden. A burden to store, to inventory, to keep clean . And then there is the cost of storage, how much room it takes up, the electricity it consumes to keep it cool/warm and dry. And then there is the emotional cost of holding on to old things. Material things weigh you down, make you feel obligated and guilty and keep you stuck in the past.

Once you have got rid of stuff you never miss it if you even remember it!
It is so freeing to give away things we no longer need, use, look at. We clear our minds and homes for the present and future opportunities. It feels good and we feel better about ourselves; I do at any rate. We can't " take it with us", we might as well travel lightly....

OP, one of the decluttering experts - I think it was the woman who does 'A Slob Comes Clean' podcast- has a concept I found very useful. She calls it 'the container concept' and it's the notion that you can keep as much clutter as you have room for. Your container might be your house, a drawer, a pencil stand... it's whatever and wherever you need to store stuff easily, neatly and conveniently. So ... if you have room somewhere for a box labelled 'children's art', stick it in there. So long as it's out of the way and doesn't take up space you need for something else. But if it's in your work/living space, and it stops you from organising stuff you need on a day-to-day basis then take photos and get rid.

My kids drawing aren’t going anywhere. I have them in boxes waiting to be put into folders when I have time, although I do plan to sift out some. Just me - appreciate this would fill others with horror. I like looking through stuff my mum has kept which is loads, but is very organised.

I’m doing the same in my house just now. I KNOW I have a large couple of boxes stored that are full of sentimental kids stuff. I go through it every few years and weed some more stuff out. I KNOW it’s just taking up space and in reality some family member will have to sort through it all when I die. I am slightly morose and don’t want too much of a mountain of stuff for them to sort but maybe just a few things to look though would be nice.
I’ve asked my adult kids about them and most of it they can’t even remember.
I think I keep all their stuff because my own mum threw everything out. I had to negotiate with her to keep my favourite teddy when I was a teenager!

I think it's because I can take photos of it and store it that way . Eventually I will downsize and I think this is why I'm sifting through stuff .

If you love them and they make you happy why not put some up? There are frames designed to store children's art on Amazon. I'm all for throwing stuff out but if there are a couple that would make you smile to see them I think there's no harm in putting them up and enjoying them.

Personally I would keep some, unless I was very short of space. Choose a selection of your favourites or ones that are most meaningful to you, store nicely, and then recycle the rest.

I have kept one large art folder per kid for all their best artwork. They take a lot of pieces but at the same time they're quite narrow so don't take up much space. I have already edited them so the favourites are there.