I have always been a bit of a hoarder. I like to keep stuff. I can’t bring myself to throw anything away that has any form of sentimental value, no matter how random or innocuous, much to Awesome Hubby’s distress. He likes to throw stuff.
My endearing habit of keeping things has never really been a problem, as the odd quirky (but useless) birthday present, thankyou card, concert ticket or holiday brochure could easily be boxed away and forgotten about until rediscovered down the track, at which point I usually take a leisurely meander down memory lane. I love keeping stuff.
My kids like to create stuff. They will draw and write, glue and paint all day, creating some magical and some not-so-magical masterpieces, all of which end up lovingly gifted…. to me. Combine this plethora of art with my inability to throw things and you might have some idea of my dilemma. We are drowning in a sea of art…. battling against the relentless tides of the Art-lantic!
It all starts with a pile of drawings on my kitchen bench. Cards proclaiming ‘I love you Mummy!’ and ‘You are the best mummy in the whole world!’ Paintings of fairies and mermaids and fairy mermaids, rainbows, our family and animals and bugs, and the odd Jesus on the cross… gotta love Catholic education…
Once the pile begins to impede my view of the dining room, I usually transfer the pile somewhere in order to appease Awesome Hubby who has usually begun kind of frothing at the mouth with the anticipation of throwing it out. On the bookshelf, on top of the fridge, in the pantry, in boxes at the top of my wardrobe, in drawers, under beds, behind the toilet…. Pretty soon I will be invited to appear on Today Tonight, showing interviews with elderly neighbours and local council representatives.
‘Throw it out!’ suggests my good friend Nives, ‘they will never know!’ So I try. I stand at the recycling bin, artpiece in hand, willing myself to drop the creation inside. The big lovehearts and I LOVE YOU MUMMYS shine like neon, pulsing with an accusatory glow… how DARE you consider treating me like RUBBISH!
‘Blu tack them to the wall and take photo’s of them,’ suggests Lil helpfully.
‘Stick it in scrapbooks!’ says Nat, practically.
‘GET RID OF IT!‘ says Awesome Hubby, whilst breathing rapidly into a paper bag.
‘Do you really need to keep pieces of paper with three vertical lines on it??’ questions Em, very diplomatically.
And the answer is yes. Yes I do.
So stay tuned for an upcoming episode of Today Tonight. I will be the one rocking backwards and forwards amongst mountains of smouldering lovehearts and rainbows, muttering over and over ‘Must. Keep It. Can’t. Throw It. Away….’ whilst Awesome Hubby is being led away from the burning ruins of our house in handcuffs, saying regretfully ‘You don’t understand, i had to… she wouldn’t throw it out!‘
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Hahahaha……you gotta toughen up. I keep one scrap book of stuff for each year.
It is the 3 day rule….keep it in public place for three days, on day 4 transfer to pile on counter, day 5…ditch when noone is looking.
xxx
Whenever I do ditch I *always* get caught out.
‘Mummy, why did you throw away your present???’ big blue (or green) eyes, shimmering with tears.
‘Oh sorry bub, it must have fallen in there by accident! Lets put it back on the fridge…’ wipe off egg shells and bits of leftover pasta before ceremoniously putting it back, now dripping leftover bits of food, on the fridge.
Oh honey, I feel your pain! My daughter in particular is a prolific artist. My husband must be a distant relative of yours. *kill me now*
My daughter’s school teacher recommended giving her a box to keep all her pictures in. It should only be as big as we are willing to store and once the box reaches its capacity she must decide what to keep and what to toss. It works, to an extent. Like her mother, she has a knack for cramming a lot into it.
I have an in-tray on my desk for the other three kids and their artwork goes there until hubby files it all away at the end of the year. I figure (trust!) that with some time and distance, it will be easier to part with the less magnificent specimens. In the mean time, I keep a blu-tac budget and plaster my windows with their artwork. Hey, it’s cheaper than curtains!