Could be a stupid question, but once they've finished secondary what do you do with their school books?

[icouldjusteatacroissant]

I have a huge pile of school books, every subject, I mean work books, that have been filled by her over 5 years. Complete with doodles, thoughts etc. DD is saying, what are you keeping them for, chuck 'em, I'll never need them again. DH is saying the loft will only stand so much weight. I'm sentimental and a bit of a hoarder anyway.

What have you done with your kids books?

I threw mine. Your dd is right. Don't hoard. If you really really want to, pull out a couple of pages of each book and have it made into a keepsake book.

Recycle them.

Stick them in the paper recycling bin.

Once we got exam results, everything went in the recycling except the languages stuff. She is carrying one on, and the other might be handy for younger sister.

All revision guides bar languages have gone to people in year below or to Oxfam books. DD2 is 6 years behind so everything will have changed before she gets to use them.

YY text books to DS2 .

He has binned all books not relating to the 4 subjects he's continuing.

Unfortunately in our loft is a carrier bag of books from each year starting in 2003 for DS1 and 2006 for DS2 which I should just chuck but can't face getting down.

In primary, each year we kept a few pieces of work and put them in a file.

In secondary, we keep the exercise books until the end of that key stage and then recycle them. I don't even know why we keep them that long, as none of my children have ever used their old exercise books as a resource for revision or anything else.

Some of the exercise books are so thick. page after page of writing, essays and hard work, it somehow feels awful to throw them into the recycling. If that doesn't sound daft.

I took them to the tip

I have to say I am as you heartless and ruthless people

Omg, I don't know if i can do it. I looked through some today, and the horrific spelling from Y6 brought lovely reminiscent tears to my eyes. All that hard work, over all those years, to then bin them.

There's no wonder my house is cluttered. Actually, dd has said if I want to keep them, fine, but remove the huge pile from her bedroom into mine!

Savage do you not have painful flashbacks and nightmares after taking them to the tip??

I think the thing is that my parents don't have a box of mine and DB's school books anywhere so it's no big deal if I chuck DS's.

i just wish I had done it every July and not have 12 year's worth now.

Read this book, then throw them out:

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-effective/dp/0091955106

Please listen to me as the daughter of a hoarder who has to go to her mother's house and see the crap ocarina I made 20 years ago and other assorted crap.

I've kept some things. DS told me to chuck them but I think that even if he doesn't want them at the moment then his DW and/or DC might like to look at them and have a laugh in years to come.
If not, they can bin them then.

They might be interesting social history or solve some "in my day ..." arguments.

My dd took all hers to the dump the day after she had finished her last A level so she couldn't be made to sit retakes.

Thatstoast I too am the daughter of a hoarder, that's what the problem is! Nowhere near her scale though,my house is minimalist by comparison, but I know why I am like I am. Thing is I know I'm gonna find it physically painful to throw them away. Will be having a look at the link you sent in a mo,thanks. I have filled a charity bag with clothes today though, and feel OK with that!

I think I will start with Senua's suggestion, and try sort out the bits I really can't part with. Thanks!

I stuffed all mine into the garden incinerator and had a ceremonial burning. It was very cathartic

I have a bankers box for each of the DC. That's enough.

I have a KS1 style book bag for each child that mementos are kept in.

At the moment I have a huge stash of Secondary books but DS is using DDs ones.
Once he finishes GCSEs I think we'll have a massive bonfire of both their stuff

My tip would be to get rid of them straight away. With anything like this, the longer you keep hold of things, the more sentimental 'weight' they accumulate and therefore they become increasingly difficult to let go of. If you get rid of it as soon as it is no longer actively needed, this never becomes a problem in the first place.

I have just read some extracts from the book, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable thinking about enjoying throwing things away! I do actually think it would make a difference, as my husband is minimalist, and I would like to be! Off to order it now.

Haha-I'm a teacher and told my new year twelves to refer to their gcse revision guides, only for one if them to ask me 'but what if we've burnt them, miss?'.

thesecond that sounds really sensible, and you are right. How do I now throw away her books I have kept from Reception class?

I am ruthless croissant... Hate " stuff"

I love the primary oddments. Inaccurate secondary diagrams of xylem and phloem I can live without.

My favourite piece says firmly 'Antm pom' at the top, followed by
'Crchg leevs,
leepng sqrls
bondng cwalas
Antum'

with the handy translation on the back:

Autumn poem

Crunching leaves
leaping squirrels
bounding koalas
Autumn

I'm still not sure how those cwalas got into it.

There's some of those dreadful art projects somewhere up in the loft too. the ones we spent all weekend on and ££££s in Hobbycraft. The ones that go into school then come home a week later and you think 'WTF we spent ages on that' so you don't chuck it right away

I don't have anything from my childhood bar a family photo album my mother left behind when she fucked off to Spain.

I wish she'd kept something. not known for sentiment, my mother.