The morning was spent clearing up. Associated junk everywhere. Things that I do not remember willingly bringing into the house have comfortably settled into their nooks and crannies. And the darned part is this -most of this 'junk' is glue and paper, glitter and scribbles - you guessed it - painstakingly ( or maybe not) created art and craft.
When one first has a child, each milestone that she achieves - be it hand eye co- ordination, colour recognition, pattern drawing etc. etc. - one proudly starts documenting and displaying . Then the inevitable happens - there are too many of these sticky gluey things all over the place . A dough frog starts looking a more realistic green, because it has actual mould growing on it . And dry mud filled pots which have long forgotten spores populating your allergy inclined nostrils. Glitter makes a constant appearance and you start recognising paper mâché by its smell.
When kidlet was younger most of these craft projects were home based. There is a framed smudge of paint on my walls - something the lil Picasso had made when she was just one. Awww? Not really. I wince every time I see it - my only hope is that when she has kids of her own I can palm it off on them and tell them their mum made it when she was... Anyhow back to the present. Nowadays it is not just school and assorted classes which despatch cartloads of craft that my progeny has created, the eternal irritant - birthday parties - have also started churning out much of the same . How many name plates , hand prints, puppets and so forth can one deal with ? And relegating to the dust bin feels like such a criminal waste.
Honestly I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of things in my home that have some stamp of kidlet on them. Sure I try to appreciate the effort and thought that goes into making these things - but need there be so many ?
What do you do with the arts and crafts overflow in your house? How do you deal with it? I am toying with the idea of keeping one carton - and pruning it every year to have only enough things that fit that size carton. I plan to have memories, but not so many that they ramble onward with silverfish and mothballs in their tow!
When one first has a child, each milestone that she achieves - be it hand eye co- ordination, colour recognition, pattern drawing etc. etc. - one proudly starts documenting and displaying . Then the inevitable happens - there are too many of these sticky gluey things all over the place . A dough frog starts looking a more realistic green, because it has actual mould growing on it . And dry mud filled pots which have long forgotten spores populating your allergy inclined nostrils. Glitter makes a constant appearance and you start recognising paper mâché by its smell.
When kidlet was younger most of these craft projects were home based. There is a framed smudge of paint on my walls - something the lil Picasso had made when she was just one. Awww? Not really. I wince every time I see it - my only hope is that when she has kids of her own I can palm it off on them and tell them their mum made it when she was... Anyhow back to the present. Nowadays it is not just school and assorted classes which despatch cartloads of craft that my progeny has created, the eternal irritant - birthday parties - have also started churning out much of the same . How many name plates , hand prints, puppets and so forth can one deal with ? And relegating to the dust bin feels like such a criminal waste.
Honestly I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of things in my home that have some stamp of kidlet on them. Sure I try to appreciate the effort and thought that goes into making these things - but need there be so many ?
What do you do with the arts and crafts overflow in your house? How do you deal with it? I am toying with the idea of keeping one carton - and pruning it every year to have only enough things that fit that size carton. I plan to have memories, but not so many that they ramble onward with silverfish and mothballs in their tow!
it's encouraging to note that other parents also have to deal with the overflow of children's art. I chose to keep Diya's best and junk the rest [when she isn't looking]. There's no end to collecting and memories otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I do agree that the birthday party take-aways create the most junk. Most times I wish they'd stop giving anything as party favours :-/
You said it! Ban them favours - except for edibles perhaps ;)
ReplyDeleteOoooh. This is such a true story for me too. I hate play dough with a fervor now because it is sticking to the most unlikely of places in the house. That's why I can't ever be a crafty mommy. :( One way to document these arts and crafts is to click pictures of them and when you have enough make a flipbook or photobook out of them. There is also a app for it. Will let you know its name soon. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a super dooper idea! I'm going to create a photo documenting folder now! Thanks Swapna :-)
DeleteI keep a huge plastic bin and all the crafty things go in there..when it is all filled up, we choose the ones to keep and discard the rest..yes, that's double the work ..
ReplyDeleteIt is, isn't it? And now I feel bad for my parents now, holding on to all the junk that their progeny must've created !! So many paintings and trophies in their home! And they are from a generation where throwing away such things was sacrilege :/
DeleteNidhi, So far I havent rubbished or dumped anything that she created, moreso its DH's orders or demand, whatever you may put it as... lol, but ours is someone who is very arts inclined, and more than her arts, her art supplies is occupying space!! sigh sigh! the 3 year old kiddor has a 3 door wardrobe of which the last two shells occupy the art supplies and books. I am getting her book rack made soon, so that should give some breating space to her everygrowing pile of art. And did i tell you I am currently making her a pin up board? will update the blog with that soon!
ReplyDeleteHi Poonam, Many thanks for dropping by at my humble blog! And thanks for sharing the tips..looking forward to your pin board update :)
ReplyDelete