KONMARI WITH KIDS: PAPER-Part 2 School Memorabilia



Welcome to my new series: 'KonMari With Kids'. 

If you have just joined me - WELCOME - I recently completed the KonMari method with my OWN belongings, read 'My KonMari Journey' to see how I did. Now, it's time to get stuck into my kid's stuff - I have two children: Miss B, 12 years old and Master M, 3 years old.
Previously on the blog, I shared how I KonMari'd my kids clothes (Baby, Toddler and Tween), their books. and their Art Work.  If you have been following my blog for a while, then you will know PAPER was a HUGE category for me, and going through the kids paper is going to be a bit of a mission - there is a lot of paper to get through.

For the benefit of this series and the category of PAPER - I have broken it into two parts: KIDS ARTWORK and SCHOOL MEMORABILIA. Some of you will probably be thinking that they should really be in the Sentimental category, and I do agree - Kids Artwork and School Memorabilia are very sentimental, however - it's paper and it needs to be dealt with, sooner rather than later - otherwise it will forever be in the 'too hard' basket. Am I right? So are you with me? Let's Do This!


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- KONMARI WITH KIDS -


Marie suggests children as young as three years old can decide what gives them joy and the key principle is that each person should be making the decisions for themselves. Before you tackle your kids items, she does recommend you KonMari your own belongings first.

In a nutshell, Marie Kondo has four rules she recommends people follow when doing the KonMari Method:

1. Tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible
2. Sort by category, not by location
3. Selection Criterion: Does it 'spark joy?'
4. Order of tidying: Clothes, Books, Documents (Paper), Miscellaneous items (Komono), and Mementos (Sentimental)


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Today I am sharing: PAPER: School Memorabilia. 




Just like my own KonMari journey when it comes to Paper, I have been putting this category off for quite a while, only because I wasn’t ready to face to the mountain of PAPER there is for ‘School Memorabilia’. I have pretty much kept everything since my daughter started school in 2010, and yes that is including her school books. Well, up until last year I did still have my own Intermediate books stored away in boxes. Eek! However, I got through mine, now it is time to go through my daughters! It's time to sort, purge and organise her school memorabilia once and for all. 

Last year I searched 'how to organise School Memorabilia' and found this post by Karen (A House Full of Sunshine) who shared her amazing School Memory Bank on iHeart Organizing. Everything about this post sparked joy and I knew this was the system I have been looking for to organise my daughter's school memorabilia. 

Supplies: (this is what I bought to create School Memorabilia boxes for my two children)
The Warehouse (NZ)

KMart (NZ)

Warehouse Stationery (NZ)
- Kookie Clear file folders (Purple & Green) x 15 of each colour 

Note: I bought these when they were on Clearance for $1 each. (One for each year: Year 1 - Year 13 in NZ, 1 x A4 Art and 1 x spare folder.)


Total cost: $115.50* (for two children) 
*Please note: these items were all purchased at different times, mostly when on Special (Buy 1, Get 1 1/2 price) or on Clearance. Sistema products are available at others stores, so it pays to shop around. 

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Before I begin, I have to share that I am absolutely devastated because somehow, somewhere I have misplaced a whole year of Miss B's school memorabilia – including her End of Year report, Yearbook and school books. I have no idea where it is. I know it’s not in my home because I have gone through everything – I even checked the kid’s sentimental boxes. Nothing. It MAY be at my parents place, but I highly doubt it, because I brought everything I had up there back to our place when I started my KonMari journey. It breaks my heart that I don’t have it, but I do have a few things from that year, like her school photo, mid-year report and some writing/art, so it’s not too bad. But still...

This wouldn’t have happened if I had a system in place for her school papers – everything was kind of just chucked into different boxes, especially after moving a few times during her primary school years. Now, I am even more determined to get all of my daughter’s school papers in order and use the same system for my son, who will be starting school in a couple of years. 

So if you have your kids school memorabilia in various places scattered around your home or 'chucked' in a box...then this post is for YOU!

BEFORE 


I gathered all of Miss B's school papers and books into the lounge and started to sort them by year (2010 – 2017). It was at this point I realised I had no books from 2011 *sad face*. I am still hopeful that they turn up. Fingers crossed.


I had piles of paper everywhere and I wasn’t sure if I would get through it all. Once I had the papers sorted by year, I started the purging process with Miss B. 

Note: It's important to include your children in this process because at the end of the day, it belongs to them and one day they will get it all back. 

From each year I want to keep the following:  
  1. Class Photo
  2. School Report
  3. Awards/Certificates
  4. Writing
  5. Artwork
With this in mind, we (my daughter and I) started the purging. We flipped though all of her books and miscellaneous pieces of paper, only keeping things that sparked joy. Miss B was actually quite ruthless, so it made the process a little less overwhelming because at the end of the day – all of this going to be hers, so it’s important she had a say in what she wanted to keep and what she wanted to discard. 


We did this for all the other years and started to see a nice snap shot of each school year. I trimmed some of the papers so they would fit in the clear file folder. 

I loved reading my daughter's stories from when she was five, in fact, I kept more than what I intended, but that’s okay because they all spark joy. Just seeing her growth in those early years was amazing to see and read (from a Mum & teacher point of view).
 



DISCARD PILE

I have been holding on to these books for 7 years. Today we pulled out our favourite pieces, Miss B and I thanked them (we really did) and then discarded them. No longer taking up valuable space in our home. 

DURING

Once we had the piles of paper Miss B wanted to keep, it was time to put them in the clear file folders. I put a post-it note with the Year level and Year on it so I didn't mix them up. Inspired by Karen's cover pages (which are amazing!),  I decided to quickly make my own, in black & white. (If you would like a copy, feel free to contact me). 

The cover page is simply showing the Year level and room to write the actual year e.g. 2010, 2011 etc. Once I go through the kids photos, I might change the front cover to include the individual school photo, but for now I like the simplicity of the cover pages. 

I proceeded to file Miss B's 'papers' into the clear files* in this order: 
  1. Cover page (YEAR ___)
  2. Class photo
  3. School report
  4. Awards 
  5. Writing (several pieces of her writing and other subject areas if they sparked joy for her)
  6. Art Work (a few pieces of her favourite art work from each year) - See how I organise Kids Art Work
* Each clear file has 20 pockets - however the spine can be removed easily, so you can add more clear file pockets if you need to. 





AFTER

DONE! SEVEN YEARS of 'School Memorabilia' in ONE PLACE! As I mentioned at the beginning of this post - I decided to use the same system for my son, who is currently 3. It's nice to know it is ready for him when he does start school and I won't be losing any of my kids school work again. (still hoping it turns up)
As you can see, on the spine I have written the Year level on the left hand side and the Year on the right, using a chalkboard pen. I got a bit emotional when I realised my daughter will graduate from High School in 2021 and my son will graduate in 2031! 
I must say it is a great feeling knowing that each folder shows us a snapshot of the kids time at school. I actually wish I did this for myself before I purged it all - well I did keep my favourites. 

The thing I love most about these Sistema Storage Organisers (40L) is that there is room at the bottom of the container for my kids' Early Childcare Education (ECE) folders (Home-Based Childcare and Playcentre folders), and also their YearBooks. My daughter has a 100 pocket from her ECE years (1-5 years old) and I will be getting the same for my son. He currently has 2 x A4 Clear file folders and 3 scrapbooks for Playcentre - so they will all go in this one container. Win Win! 


Thanks for reading,
Charlene

How do you store/organise your kids' School Memorabilia? 


The storage organisers are stackable, and are tucked away and stored like this in my wardrobe. 



Coming Up Next: KonMari With Kids: KOMONO - TOYS
It's the one you have been waiting for!! TOYS!! I can't wait to share my Before, During and After photos with you.


I am super excited about this new series 'KonMari With Kids' and would love for you to follow along in this process, better yet, join me - Subscribe to my Blog, so you don't miss a post and together we CAN 'KonMari With Kids'. I will also be sharing my journey on my Facebook page, and Instagram, so be sure to follow me there too.


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