Ask the Organizer

Dear Lisa,

Our eldest daughter recently finished pre-school, a bittersweet moment for us all. Evidence of her many pre-school activities all year long are all over the house,  regrettably in random piles…artwork, class photos, handprint crafts, clay projects, woodcrafts and special cards. Do you have any suggestions for handling the accumulation, showcasing some of her creativity and storing others for memories? This is an issue not limited to the preschool years I suspect!

Jeanine M., Hamden, CT

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Dear Jeanine,

You are right. This is an on-going issue that only gets worse! If you think pre-school has a lot of paperwork, just wait till your daughter starts grade school! The rolling waves of clutter are about to flow in! I suggest setting up an efficient paper management system now before school starts or you’ll find yourself buried in papers by Halloween!

Consider these tips for handling school papers:

• Create a launch & landing pad by your home entryway (shelf cubbies, baskets or even sturdy wall hooks to hang school backpacks, jackets, etc) so your kids will always have their things ready to go when needed.
• When school starts, get into the habit of emptying backpacks as soon as kids are home from school (when they get older, they should do this on their own).
• Set up a daily drop basket (a place out of sight such as in a kitchen cabinet, pantry or hall closet) where you can quickly toss in paperwork (important papers that need to parents signatures, etc. should be placed in a separate ‘on the counter’ file or basket so it can be dealt with and tucked back into the backpack.
• Once a month, make it a habit to cull the daily drop basket (throwing out most paperwork but selecting just a few you’d like to save).
• Lastly, you should set up a permanent file or bin just for the school papers worth saving. (The Lillian Vernon Catalog offers a wonderful school paper storage bin with a box type drawer for each school year…limit saved paperwork to what will actually fit inside one drawer).

For artwork, 3-D crafts and oversized paintings, here are some tips:

• At the end of each school year, take a photo of your child holding the 3-D project, such as dioramas while holding a sign that explains it (“Mrs. Smith’s 2^nd grade science project, etc). Then toss the project and save the photo in a school album.
• A few special cards can be saved in a ‘memory box’ for child or mother, tucked away in a hat box on a closet shelf. *Remember, you can’t save them all!
• Don’t use the kitchen fridge to display artwork! Nothing makes a kitchen look more cluttered than random papers, photos and artwork shoved onto the fridge with zillions of magnets. Instead, create a separate ‘Childrens Art Gallery’ in a less conspicuous location such as a stairwell wall, a wall in the garage or finished basement, or even inside the pantry door…and be sure to rotate the art occasionally.
• Paper and clay crafts made for various holidays can be stored right with your holiday decorations in the attic so you can admire them while being displayed once a year around that holiday season.
• Three dimensional shadow box frames (available at most craft stores) can hold several small items, representing various grades or classes and can be hung right on the Childrens Art Gallery wall.
• Oversized papers or artwork can be tucked into an ‘Art Envelope’, made by duct taping 2 poster boards together on 3 sides, leaving the top open to drop in papers. Scallop the front top edge for easy insertion and have your child decorate the ‘envelope’ by drawing pictures on it, if desired. Since this is flat but oversized, it should be stored standing up against the back wall, on the floor of any nearby closet.

Please remember that you simply cannot save everything. Our kids will not want years of school clutter handed down to them in the future. Hold ‘em for a while and then let them go. Good luck to you and your daughter as she enters the ‘big school’ this Fall!

*If you have an organizing question for Lisa, contact her directly at LisaLelas@aol.com with ‘Elm City Ask the Organizer’ in the subject line.  Submitters will each receive a complimentary copy of Lisa’s bestselling book: ‘Simple Steps, 10 Weeks to Getting Control of your Life’, while promotional supplies last.

Lisa Lelas is a professional organizer/author/speaker from Guilford, CT, who has appeared on such shows as Oprah and Today. She is the organizing segment reporter for Channel 8 and Channel 30, as well as the creator/host of SIMPLY ORGANIZED on community cable TV. Lisa is also the founder of Clutter Cutters of Connecticut, a not-for-profit clutter support group offering tips and strategies, inspiration and motivation for accomplishing organizational challenges. www.LifeStylingwithLisa.com