Feel like your house is bursting at the seams with toys, popsicle crafts and construction paper pictures? Tell me you have kids without telling me you have kids, right?
There is a lot of sentimentality that goes into decluttering things like this and it also feels never ending, so today let's talk about simple solutions to getting rid of things so you can make room for the wonderful memories you do want to keep.
Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:
The real reason decluttering toys is such a struggle.
How to help your kids understand discernment with their stuff.
Simple tips to make decluttering the toys and artwork easier.
More value comin’ atcha. Check out these resources:
Mom life makes staying consistent with your routines and habits 10X harder than it needs to be. Let’s fix that and get (and stay) consistent, zero perfection necessary. Download your free consistency tracker and mini-training here.
Looking for a podcast episode on a specific topic? We’ve made it simple. Check out the Mother Like a Boss™ Podcast Directory here and find the episodes you’re looking for organized by topic.
If you loved this episode as much as I loved sharing it, there is more where that came from.
Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out. And I would just loooove if you would leave a review and rating. It's a little thing that makes a big difference and helps me to continue to bring super valuable content and fabulous guests.
Have a topic you want me to cover on the podcast? Submit them to us here. This show is all for you, mama. Let's talk about the things you most want to hear about.
Whether you're looking to create more than just an organized command center for your family, or you're ready to make this year that you finally get your ish together, I've got you covered.
Homemakerish U is a modern solution for creating a home that’s manageable and a life that’s uncomplicated for any mom, in every season.
Join over 3500+ other moms who have taken control of their lives and homes by stepping up to become #homemakerish
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Well, hello there, friends. Welcome back to the Mother Like a Boss podcast. It is your host again, Kendra Hennessy. So excited to have you here for another episode. Um, this week in the Hennessy house is a very, very fun one. It is the start of school and it is the start of in-person school for our family. It is the first time since March of 2020.
I'm so excited. Yeah, I'm really, really excited. Now I did a previous episode on how we are homeschooling our daughter. Who's going into high school. Talk all about that in a previous episode that you can go listen. Last episode or that it was maybe two episodes go. So really easy to find if you scroll back.
Um, but our son is going into third grade. He's going to school. He goes to public school and he is just so excited. Um, obviously March of 20, 20, they stopped going. They never went back that school. Yeah. And then last year, uh, we chose virtual for our kids, our district, still with in person for some people.
And then you could choose virtual if you want to do. We did just because for our schedules and kind of worrying about the quarantine procedures that could come up, it just seemed easier to have them virtual. Um, and it, to be quite honest, it was one of the hardest years of our life. And I know even for the people whose kids went into school, it was the hardest year of their life.
I think collectively it was just a very. Hard. That's the only word that I can use to describe it. You know, I know that there are more, um, I don't know, there are more descriptive words out there. There are bigger words and more beautiful words, but to be honest, the word hard is just how it felt and, um, how it continues to feel in a lot of ways, but I'm loving some of the normalcy that is coming back and my son is just.
Elated about going back to school. He is a people person that kid loves people and he loves being around people. He loves being around his friends. He loves interacting and he really was just meant to be in school. And so I'm really excited for him to start this week. I also get my schedule back because virtual school took a lot on the parents because it wasn't just like, like with homeschool.
You can choose your own curriculum and you also choose your own schedule with virtual schooling. We had to work on someone else's schedule, but we were also at home. And I've talked about that before. So I'm not going to get too far into that right now, but just to say, just all of those parents out there who are sending their kids back or have chosen after all of this to homeschool or have chosen a different route.
I just want to say, I see you. I hear you. And, you know, we truly are, um, this together in a, in a lot of ways, and I'm just happy that you're here. Speaking of that, uh, happy that you're here. All of my listeners, I know we have a lot of longtime listeners and we have people that are just starting. Like with this episode, maybe just found this episode.
If you have been listening. And have loved this podcast. Um, the, the thing that I would really love to ask as a favor to our other listeners and to me and to my team is to leave us a really kind review. That would be great. I don't ask for reviews very often. I don't think I've done that actually in like a year.
I don't think I've, I've asked for reviews. It's not something we do because to be honest, I'm not about vanity numbers and things like that. I'm about serving you. But when you leave us a really good review, it also helps other listeners that are just coming in to see them. Um, especially when, you know, on every single podcast out there, there's always some like nasty review there's trolls there's mean people, people just like mean reviews.
Like it's one thing to not like content, but to make comments about someone's view. Or something it's just nasty. And so, but we like to do is flood our reviews with the people that are enjoying it, because those that aren't enjoying it can just not listen anymore. I mean, it's free. No, one's forcing you to listen to this.
There's somebody else out there who may be talking about something that would be more enjoyable to you. Something I have started to do with every podcast that I listened to on a regular basis that I get, you know, free content from every single week that I get enjoyment and entertainment and education from is I always do my best to leave them a really great review just to let them know how thankful I am for them.
So something I'm trying to do a lot of is anything I'm consuming is to just pour into them and let them know that they're serving me. And also, I know that. Other people that are listening. So I would be honored if you would just take a minute. Really? It can take 60 seconds. It doesn't have to be long.
Just leave us a review. You know, if you feel called to leave us a five star, that would be awesome. Um, and we would just love to hear from you and how this podcast is helping you and your life. Okay. That is a longer intro than we usually have. We usually jump right in within the first 20 seconds, but sometimes I have other things to get to let's chat about today's topic, which is decluttering toys, crafts, and kids' artwork.
Whew. This is a very common question that I get. It's a common topic that comes up, especially inside my course homemaker issue. Um, and it's something that I've talked about for years. Uh, I will also say that as my kids have gotten older, some of my ideas, some of my methods have changed a little bit and that's good as we grow.
And as our kids grow, one of the things that. Loved in motherhood is being able to say, you know, what, what used to work for me is not working anymore. Or maybe the way that I used to do something I wouldn't necessarily do now, or I wouldn't tell someone else to do so let's jump in and just start talking about how to get started with decluttering, the toys and crafts and kids' artwork.
I picked those three things because those tend to be the three, like the trifecta. Of children's stuff, clothes. Yes. That's a big one, but I do find that people don't have as much trouble decluttering their kids' clothing as they do the things like toys and crafts and kids' artwork. So first let's talk about why this is so difficult to begin with, uh, why it feels difficult for these three things.
Well, number one, it's over. So even just talking about toys, decluttering, and going through and minimizing and donating and getting rid of, and whatever you want to call it, the toys that our kids have can be very overwhelming. Especially if we have more than one kid, just the sheer magnitude and volume of toys that kids have nowadays compared to even 20 years ago, 30 years ago and beyond it's.
There's a lot. There is so much more consumerism. That's a separate topic that I want to start talking about a little bit more, um, in the podcast, especially, but we have a consumerism problem and I'm talking, I live in the U S so I'm definitely talking about the U S I know people have it in other countries as well, but we, we really do have this like more is better mentality.
And the problem is that then we end up with more. And then it's overwhelming and it's taxing and it's exhausting. And so more is not better. More is burnout more is more. And what we do is we consume more stuff for the sake of more, and then people in our lives give us stuff and then they donate things.
And then we go to garage sales and we get more all because it's, it's less money because, oh, but I went to a garage sale. I had to buy that thing. It was only $5 instead of asking yourself. But even though it's only $5, do I even need it? Do my kids even need it? Are they going to play with it? Or am I just cluttering up their space to fill a void, to fill something, to make myself feel less guilty, which I am speaking from experience.
That is something that I think many parents do. Is, I don't want my kid to be the one that doesn't have these toys. I want to make sure that they have them. I want them to feel loved when truthfully the space that we create when we minimize the stuff, when we get rid of it is so much more beautiful. And create such a great space for kids to, to learn, to play and to learn, to be more creative and to, um, learn through pretend and just also create the space where there's not as much stress over the sheer amount of stuff.
So it's difficult because it's overwhelming. Let's just call it what it is. It is overwhelming for a lot of reasons. And one of which is just the sheer volume of stuff. It's also difficult because in many cases, not all I will say. I don't want to paint with too broad, a stroke kids want to keep every. And that often is just because children, um, don't really understand that.
Like if they're getting rid of something that they're not playing with that it's okay, because it's going to make more space for them to play with the things they do, kids just in general, if they have something, they kind of form attachments to them and they, they have this like attachment to their stuff and it feels really weird to then ask them to get rid of it.
And just by nature, kids tend to like it. Stuff again, not all children, but it can be difficult when kids want to keep everything. There's also the guilt over getting rid of things, the guilt over getting rid of toys that someone bought for you, or that you bought the guilt over spending money, and then having to get rid of something, the guilt over getting rid of something, and then your kids crying over it or being upset.
What if it was a gift that someone gave the guilt over, throwing away? Or, uh, I was going to say donating, but we're not going to donate, uh, our artwork, but, uh, recycling even, um, getting rid of artwork and doodles and things that your kids have done crafts that they've made that guilt over that. Oh, but they made it, I feel so bad.
So this feels difficult because there's a lot of guilt in that. And remember, as I say, All of these feelings are totally valid. Okay. We're not judging these feelings. We're just recognizing that this is what's a lot of times holding us back. It also feels like it never ends. This is a common problem when it comes to anything, home management and homemaking and decluttering and cleaning, it just feels like it never ends.
It feels like I just went through all this stuff and now if it doesn't even feel like I've made it. And the truth is that unless you declutter your house and then never bring another item into your house ever again, decluttering just like cleaning, just like showering is something that you're going to need to do on a routine basis.
And that's why it's so important to get into some kind of a routine. To let it be something that you do over time, instead of it just being a giant project that you think you're going to do, like painting the walls while just do it, and then it'll be done. And I won't have to paint ever again, unless I want to change the color.
That's not how decluttering is. And we need to change our mindset about that. It's kind of like changing our mindset around cleaning. It's the same idea I clean now because it needs to be clean. I know it's going to need to be cleaned later and I just get over it. And we need to just get over the fact that unless we're never bringing another item, ed, this is going to be something that we do on a regular basis.
But what is so great is that when we get started with it and we start to live a life where decluttering is just a part of what we do, when we don't need to live with all of our stuff all the time, then it gets much easier over time. It's kind of like what I say about cleaning. The more often you clean, the less you have to clean, that's the irony.
The more often you do it. The less time it actually takes the more, the less energy, the less physical and mental energy. Um, and the less work that it takes. It also feels like there's no time. That's another subject in and of itself. This idea that we never have enough time to do anything, but that's about priorities.
And so we have to look at reprioritizing that, yes, this is going to take time. So that's maybe not time that you're going and doing something else. That's not time that you're watching. That's not time that you're going to a party. That's not time that you're going to, you know, 50,000 activities on a weekend.
We have choice. We have to take personal agency over our time and our priorities and say, you know, if I want to do this, if I want to have my physical space, be. Uh, less cluttered, more minimized, less that I'm going to have to prioritize the time to actually do it because the time isn't going to find you, you're going to have to find the time you're going to have to make the time actually physically look at your schedule and make that time.
And then of course, really the true reason that decluttering, especially our kids stuff feels so difficult. Is just wondering what to keep and what to get rid of. That's the thing, a lot of people have trouble with this. I don't even know what to keep. I don't know what to get rid of. And I want to say something that I'm not sure I've ever talked about, which is that I think a lot of that comes down to this mistrust that we have in ourselves, because truly there is no rubric.
There's no template. There's no checklist. There's no sure. Fire lists that I can give you of. Here's how to know what to get rid of. And here's how to know what to keep. I can give you best practices. I can say, Hey, keeping broken toys is unsafe. We don't need to keep them. We can throw those away. But unless we're talking about things like that, there is no exact way to know because you're the only one that knows if you truly need to keep something or to get rid of it.
You're the only one that knows if you're truly using something or not. You're the only one that knows if those toys are something that you really want to keep, or that can be done. There is no surefire way that I can teach you. There's no practice. Anyone out there can teach you. There's only best practices.
And I think a lot of times what we're looking for is to someone, for someone to come along and just tell us exactly what to do instead of reminding us that we can trust ourselves. The question that gets asked a lot, when it comes to. Uh, decluttering and organizing a lot of times when I'm talking about organizing and saying, just get rid of stuff is, but what if I regret it afterward?
I can say FA I can say fully 100% without a shadow of the doubt. I have never regretted getting rid of something. Not ever I've regretted, not getting rid of something and then having to deal with it later. I've never regretted that. Now there are people out there listening. That are going to say, Kendra I've regretted something I've re of course, again, nothing is a hundred percent in life, but I will say that the vast and I mean, vast majority of people will tell you that they do not regret getting rid of it.
And you know, what most of the stuff that we have is not so absolutely priceless that we couldn't just get another one, if you absolutely positively regretted getting rid of something that he couldn't just to go get one that you couldn't go find one. And that's why it's so important to be discerning, which I'm going to talk about in a minute, because that's what decluttering with our kids' stuff does, is it teaches them discernment.
It teaches them to look at things and say, okay, Um, is this useful for me? Is this useful for me right now? Is this something that I'm going to want 10 years from now? Or is this something that's just cluttering up my space that I'm afraid to get rid of? I don't like to do things out of fear. And so therefore I don't teach things out of fear either.
I don't, I don't believe in fear-based keeping of things. I don't believe in keeping something just because you're afraid you might need it later. That is not the way I want to live my life. And I certainly don't want others to live there. Like that either, because feat, when you keep things out of fear, then you're asking for the stress later, you're basically setting yourself up for stress later.
And fear is not a way that I want to, um, it's not an emotion that I want to be making decisions from because I'm never going to make good decisions from fear. I'm always going to. Fear based decisions from fear. I'm going to make a poor decisions that I'm going to make decisions that tend not to support me.
Okay. So let's get into this. When it comes to toys, we're gonna start with toys and then go to artwork. One of the biggest questions that we can ask the most simple, the most just straightforward question is what are we playing with? What toys are your kids actually playing with? And this is about truth and honesty.
It's really about sitting down and asking yourself, what are we playing with and, and helping our children to see that there are a lot of toys that they have that they may never play with. Maybe they used to play with it and they don't anymore. And this is again about teaching discernment. Hey, listen, that toy is really great.
Do you actually play with that? No, then why do we need to keep it? And maybe talking through that now, do we need to do that with every toy? No, that can take a really long time, but it's a great place to start is to have those conversations about, here's why mommy thinks we really should donate this toy.
It's a toy. You got four years ago, it's for, you know, babies or it's for toddlers and you're not a toddler anymore. And I haven't seen you play with it in many years. So that's the reason that I think now I'd want you to tell me the reason you think you should keep it. And that's a great way to start communicating those, those things and learn.
Um, they can learn that discernment of Hm. You know, I really was keeping it because I just felt afraid to get ready. But now I can start to talk through the fact that I don't even play with that thing anymore. And maybe it would really be beneficial to someone else who is that age and is going to play with it.
So for toys, what are we playing with? The other thing that has to be taken into account that I'm sorry, just enough people don't take into account is how much space do I actually have. We have a storage problem in this country. In 2018, there were an estimated 2.5. Billion square feet of storage space in this country, in the us alone.
That was in 2018. I'm sure it's far more. Now we have an issue with thinking we need more space versus less stuff. And so just looking at how much space do we actually have, for example, When we lived in our first house where we had our daughter, um, it was small. It was maybe 900 square feet. I don't even think really if I add up all the space, it, I don't even know that it was 900 square feet.
It was a two bedroom. It was very small, very small kitchen, pretty small living room, not a whole lot of extra space. And so when we had our daughter, you know, we had to take those things into account. I can't just have a bunch of extra toys and big dollhouses and Barbie dream houses. We don't have the space for that.
So instead we got very good at discerning. What was the most valuable to her and taught her that over the years, because we just didn't have the space. We didn't have a choice. About keeping a playroom full of stuff because we didn't have a playroom. And so it was really great to say how much space do I actually have, and let's keep the things that are going to fit in that space.
And that's where I started that belief that if it doesn't fit, I probably don't need it. And so we had like a, for example, we had a cubby system, it was like nine. Um, nine squares and just got it from target like 2008. And we had the, uh, the baskets that go with it. And so I started to look at the fact that.
If it needs, it needs to all fit in there. So if it doesn't all fit in there, something's got to go. And it was a great way for my husband and, and me and my daughter to all learn that. And for her to learn that at a young age about it needs to all fit. And if it doesn't all fit, it's time to kind of look through and see are these things we're playing with?
Or can we donate it to someone else? Can we give it away? Um, is it, are there things that are broken? Are there toys that are broken, are the things that are unsafe or just not usable anymore? Great. Let's get rid of those things. So asking herself how much space you actually have is helpful now where this can become an issue for people are struck.
I don't want to say an issue, um, that makes it very negative. A struggle is when you do have space, when you're like, no, I have a giant playroom or I have a basement. And so we not only have to look at the space that we have, but how we want to use the space. Just because you have the space. Do you want it all taken up with toys or do you want that space to be available for actual playing?
Look at a classroom? A classroom is big in many cases. It's big enough to say hold 20 desks. That's what I mean. It's big, but it's not like they say, well, I mean, it's big. Let's just put all the stuff in it. We can just stack things. No, we want the kids to be able to learn and to move and to have movement in, you know, in that area.
So that's what we have to look at with the space is not just how much space we have, but what we're using the space. Am I holding onto this because of guilt or because it's what I really want. Again, something that's a great thing for us to work through with our kids. I'm really big on talking through these big feelings and emotions with our children.
Because, um, I know how it feels when you're a kid and you have big feelings and someone doesn't honor them and respect them. And when you just kind of feel like they're a burden and so it can be really great to actually have these conversations about feeling that guilt and where that comes from. And then saying, but how can we maybe bless someone else with this?
Or if something is broken, you know, why are we really keeping it? Are we, you know, we're keeping it. Cause I feel guilty. I feel bad because Nana gave this to me. Well, it's not useful anymore though. Sue, sorry. My nail just hit something. Um, it's not useful anymore. And so keeping it around is that. Taking up space and, you know, Nana would understand that we got our use out of it.
And now it's gone. So asking like, are we holding onto this because of guilt or because we, something we really want and the same goes for artwork and crafts and things like that. Something that people ask a lot. And I know that my friend, Allie, I get asked a lot because she talks about decluttering and minimalism is, should I do it with my kids?
Or should I do it? Like, just when they're out of the house, just go through their stuff. I think that there are two different schools of thought on this. And sometimes I vacillate back and forth because I know that it sometimes depends on the situation. I'm one of those people that's like, sometimes it just depends.
Depends on the situation and your family. But I do know that as your kids get older, there is a sense of ownership that they have over their stuff and it can feel, it can feel, um, Very defeating for a kid to come home after school or after being out and find that someone's gone through all their stuff and gotten rid of things without their permission.
And that I know can, it can feel like, um, mistrust and it can, it can build those feelings. And then I feel like a lot of times we're just asking for even more of a struggle afterward. And so my thing is I've never, unless my kids were very little I'm talking like babies, like they didn't know any different, right.
As they started to get older. Um, we don't, I don't go through my son's stuff without him asking. I don't go through my daughter's stuff without asking, without doing it together. Um, w it's just not how we roll in this house. And the reason is because I want them to take ownership of their stuff and their space.
And if I'm going to want them to take ownership over their stuff in their space, then I need to allow them some ownership over that. And so doing it together has been super helpful. Not only does it go faster, but it also allows us to have those communication moments. Um, right then now, again, that's going to depend on your situation.
I don't know your situation, so I'm not here to judge anyone. Um, it's just something that gets asked, and those are my feelings on that. I look at it this way. If I came home and my husband had gone through my closet and said, you know, I just felt like you knew you had too much stuff. You have too much stuff in your closet.
And so I went through it, I would feel heartbroken. I would feel angry. I would feel resentful. I would feel deceived and I don't want my kids to feel that. So if I want them to take ownership over their space. And so we do that together, um, and it's just something that we've always done. So that's my feelings on that.
As I say, with everything I'm using timers and working in batches is so helpful, especially with toys, because if you're going to do it with your kids, you know, kids have a short attention span, honestly, sort of adults. Like, can we just all say. As adults we have, I have a shorter attention span than I give myself credit for.
So we blame kids for having short attention span. So two adults, and so using timers really just allows us to work in those batches and feel like it's not this never ending task. And so what I like to do is just like maybe throw 20 minutes on the timer and say, okay, let's get all this done in 20 minutes.
And then as sometimes I will, when the 20 minutes goes off, I'll say, let's take a couple of minute break and then we're gonna come back and finish up this little area so that it doesn't end up being a bigger mess. It's like, if, if you say you're in a bedroom and you kind of taking everything out and it's making a bigger mess, cause decluttering often makes a bigger mess before it actually gets cleaned up.
What I'll do is we'll do like 20 minutes. We'll take a little break and then we'll say, let's finish this area so that at least it's cleaned up. Let's get the garbage bags out of here. Let's get the donation bins downstairs. However, we're going to do it. You know what? We'll tackle this side of the room tomorrow, next weekend, whenever we're going to do it.
But working in those batches is so hard. And just remembering that less stuff equals more space, the less stuff we have, the more space we have to actually enjoy. And that goes for everything. Now, when it comes to artwork and crafts and things like that, it's the same basic sentiment of what I just talked about with toys.
But I do know that there is more of a sentimental attachment to that. But one of my absolute favorite phrases that I have been saying for years that people love is that when everything has sentimental value, nothing has sentimental value. Sentimentality is based on the uniqueness of something it's based on the emotional attachment.
And when that happens with everything, it kind of loses it. Special-ness it loses that sentimentality. When we say everything, when, when everything that our kids have ever put their hands on is sentimental. It kind of loses that specialness because later on, and yeah. If you're keeping all that stuff to give to them.
When they're an adult, they're not going to remember half of that stuff. And now they're stuck with a box of stuff. I was going to say crap, but in many cases I do feel that way, a box of stuff that was kept. And now it's now it's their responsibility to go through and choose what sentimental to them. Um, and now it's a burden on them and.
I look at sentimental stuff. As this needs to spark a memory, it needs to spark something. It needs to spark a time in our lives. Um, it needs to spark different phases, different seasons. Um, and so choosing one or two things from each of those is so great because it sparks that. But if I kept every single notebook that my daughter ever used to draw circles in.
Yeah. Three, um, that that would take up all of our space and that's not, that's not helpful to her because later on in life, if she's gonna look at that, she's gonna be like, mom, why did you keep five notebooks full of snowmen that I drew? Why didn't you just keep one or two? You know? And so that's a great way to start to look at this as like asking our kids to say, Hey, you are so great at drawing beaches.
Now, like you have been practicing and I am loving all these pictures of beaches. How about we pick. The best one, the one, the one that you love the most, we're going to pick that one. And that's the one that we're going to keep, we're going to put in a frame. We're going to put in an album, we're going to put on the wall.
We're going to put in our tote to keep for, you know, later on down the line that we're going to save. And it's really, again, I go back to the word it's discernment. It's a great way for children to learn that my daughter's an artist. A true artist in every sense of the word. And that's something that she's learned over the years, you know, she'll go through her artwork and she'll Chuck things.
She'll take pictures of some things and then throw them out so that she can have kind of that running, um, book or, um, like a timeline of her work. But she's like, I don't need to keep everything. I, some of the artwork I did as a practice and now I can get rid of it because I'm keeping only the things that I, that I most enjoy.
And so when our kids are little. You know, number one, they feel so proud of everything that they've made and they should, and we feel proud of them and we're like, no, but look, they put, they like glued, um, all these little, uh, cotton balls on this piece of paper. And it's so cute. It is. It's amazing. But if they did that 50 times, it's like we have to choose one so that we're not overwhelmed.
And so that we don't overwhelm them. I've heard a lot of stories from adults that are like, my mom just handed me seven totes worth of stuff from my childhood. And I'm actually kind of angry because I'm like, I don't want all this. I don't want this burden of going through it now. I really would rather, she have just kept wanting to.
And it's like very, very special things. And so that's something to think about with the artwork and the crafts and all that. And again, something to work through together. So have a system to deal with that have a system of, okay. You know, we're, we're drawing, we're drawing. Great. Are we going to, um, keep one of these papers?
Are we going to keep to, you know, have a system for how many of something we're actually going to keep and where are we going? So in our house, we have the big plastic totes and we've kept them downstairs. We have stuff from my daughter's preschool on up through now when she's 14 years old, same for my son, but we have one toe and my son is in third grade and we have one total.
My daughter, I think has like one and a half. Cause again, we go through it and just like, we only keep a few things from each year. So things that are not artwork, things like their report cards from each year, you know, little like if they did some fun project that, that fits in there or a writing sample, just things that are like a little something from each school year to remember.
And it's like the progress of it. And same with the artwork as well, kind of shows the progression, but having an area to actually store it is really important too. And something, I am just a huge, huge advocate of is we live in the digital age. Y'all take a picture of it and keep it new Google drive. You can keep millions of pictures, right?
Like you, I have two terabytes in my Google drive and we're not even like, close to it. W w like being in the, in the progress bar, we're like, be like barely at 1%, because just the pictures just don't take up as much space. So take all the pictures, get a storage solution, either a Google drive or Dropbox or Shutterfly or something, a folder on your phone.
And have it specifically for that child or that year or school year, you can organize it however you want to. Um, you can have a Google drive that say it's like, um, Everett's artwork and it could be kindergarten. And there could be a sub folder for kindergarten, a sub folder for first grade, second grade.
And you can keep all of those. Very very easy to set up and then you can just take pictures of everything and then you can create an amazing picture book. At the end of the year. You can get them printed at Walmart and CVS and Shutterfly. And, oh my gosh, all of those places, print photo books now, and they're relatively inexpensive compared to what they used to be.
They're nothing and you can get them printed and now you have a beautiful book with all of that and it takes up, you know, Like one 50th of the space and it's something that they can keep that they can take with them if they want. And you can also print out multiple copies, which is great. And so I'm just a huge advocate of that.
Allowing them to enjoy the artwork and allowing them to see their own progression and allowing them to celebrate what they have made while also honoring that we only have so much space that we don't need to keep everything. Okay. And that's, I just love that idea. It's been so helpful to us. We've done that actually virtual, it worked so great because they did all their artwork at home.
Like his art class was at home and so we had all of it and. You know, we just don't have the space to keep every single thing that you've done. So what he did is he kept his favorites. I actually bought one from him to put on, uh, in my office, if you've ever seen. A video of me behind me, you'll see an amazing picture.
Allah Everett had a C it is a colorful background and it's, uh, an ice cream cone. And it was just one of the, uh, the various like mediums that they were learning, um, and an artist. And I loved it so much. And I asked him if I could. I said, I'd love to buy this and put this in my office. So I bought it from him.
We have another two that we framed because they were beautiful. And then other ones, he was like, ah, I don't really care that one. I didn't, it doesn't really matter. And so it was really great for us to through the years to talk through that. And it hasn't always been easy, you know, some years, or sometimes my kids have just been like, oh, I want to keep everything.
And so sometimes. I said, okay, we're not going to talk about this right now. We're just going to, we'll keep everything. And you know what? Maybe as the weeks and months go by, we bring it up again because this takes time. Kids need to learn this over time and it's okay if they're not all in it. And if they get emotional, let's honor their emotions for what they are and allow them to be emotional over the fact that they made something.
And maybe they want you to, to keep it for awhile. Right. So I hope that this has been really helpful for you. The thing with decluttering is it's more than we can talk about in a 30, 40 minute podcast here. There's so much, there's so many deeper things. That go into all of it, especially around the mindset and the emotion and doing it with kids and dealing with, with trauma that some of us may have from childhood that we're bringing into adulthood.
There's so much more to this, but I hope that this was a great starting point for you. Something you can listen to and yeah. It started this week with it, um, with your kids. And as I mentioned at the beginning, I would absolutely love if you would leave us a really great review. If you are loving this podcast, it would just be so helpful.
I appreciate all of you for listening, for continuing to listen for sharing this out for sending your words of encouragement to me. I appreciate you so much. You'll just never know how much I love and appreciate every single one of you listening. So thanks so much. And as always go forth and mother like a boss.
