Scrapbooking for the sentimental, but way too busy/lazy/impatient mom.

Keeping the important Memories
There are two extreme types of moms, I believe, when it comes to "memory items". There are the "Keep it all, my baby touched it!" types and the "toss it" types. (I know you both, but will refrain from naming names.)

The goal is to be somewhere in the middle. This is something we all face in one way or another. You have to find the right balance of keep vs. toss. For some of us it is best to keep it all at first, then after a year or so, look at it again and whittle it down. For example, I initially kept ALL the baby cards we got from showers and after my children were born. I could not bear to part with them. Then, when I came to my senses, I tossed out (I mean RECYCLED) most of them, keeping only the ones from close friends and close family.

I am very sentimental, but also impatient and busy. This combination has inspired me to find a good, fast way to sort/organize/keep all the things that I cannot part with on behalf of my children.

"But what do I do with it??"Maybe YOU had tons of energy and ambition when your children were babies and YOU spent every nap time and evening laboriously hot gluing and stamping out his or her keepsakes... but I did not. I am creative, but apparently way too lazy and impatient for that kind of scrapbooking. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice. But I could not do it. Also, I have a real, passionate love for Shutterfly, so all my pictures go there. But what about all the other stuff?

This idea came about because I was an office worker before becoming mom. I actually had a home office for a time, and when I left the work world for good, I had a lot of leftover office supplies. I decided to use what I had on hand for baby #1 (Cole) and it worked so well that I have since expanded on it and repeated it for baby # 2 (Lily). The key for me, was binders.

Part 1; Keepsakes (Not school related)
Cole started out with one 1.5 " hard sided binder filled with plastic sheet protectors. I just filled them front of binder to back. (That is a great place to start. Just place items in, oldest to newest.) Later, when I had time - I got FANCY. But, in a simple way. Here is what works for me and our children:

Each child has three types of binders. I'll describe them each individually.

1) Photos - This binder is for leftover and old portraits and the miscellaneous snapshots that keep turning up. For example, I have sheet protectors that each individually hold one milestone set of portrait photos. The past ones that were in "the big frame" and the leftover extras that didn't get given away to grandparents. I also put proofs here, if I have them. One page of 1 month photos, one page of 6 month photos, etc. all the way on up to current leftover school photos. (Now when your teacher requests that junior bring in a baby picture, you know right where to go!) There are also some pages of random snapshots that were given to us by other family members or friend's parents. You want to keep them - but can only keep them on the fridge for so long...

2) Artwork - I need to preface this by saying, YOU CANNOT KEEP ALL ARTWORK. You need to pick and choose the best examples and let Grampa and Gramma enjoy some of the excess for their refrigerators. The rest "mysteriously disappears" when no one is looking. Chances are, it has been forgotten anyway. This binder is also limited to art that is 8 1/2 x 11" or smaller and fits into a sheet protector - but most of it does. (I did break down and buy one of those cute kids "portfolios" for a few of the bigger pieces - mostly from school projects - that we really wanted to keep, like the family tree.) Our children LOVE art. They are very prolific and do art almost every day. I personally try to keep some of the best examples of coloring, the especially good paintings and the little other bits and pieces that are just precious. We have cut outs of their hand tracings, some awesome drawings, butterflies, snowflakes, family portraits in crayon, etc.)

The pictures above are: (Top two) Samples of the different types of art inside.
(Bottom)My son's current 'ART BOOK' - he decorated the cover.
(Left) Portfolio for large size keepsake art.

3) "Memories" - This binder is where almost everything else goes. You could just do this binder in an oldest to newest format. That is how I started it back in the crazy busy "toddler days". When I had more time, like after preschool started, I added in TABS. That is where the FANCY comes in. This allowed me to be a bit more organized about our keepsakes. Our "Memories" binders have 4 tabs each. (I had the cardboard tab dividers and the printer friendly tab stickers on hand and they have worked very well.)

Our tabs are: Birthdays, Vacations, Holidays and Other.
- In the Birthday category, I keep the cards from close family and friends only (the cards from now deceased great-grandparents are especially precious!), a sample of the party invite if we had a party and a "Birthday Interview".*

- In the Vacations category, we keep pamphlets and maps from the places we've been. Airline tickets stubs, if we flew and any other flat keepsakes that may apply.

- In the Holidays category, we keep valentines (again, close friends and family only), Christmas cards from grandparents, programs to the school or church holiday musical the children may have been in, picture with Santa... etc.

- In the Other category, we keep everything else. Ticket stubs to performances or events we attended. Church bulletin and obituary from when Great-Grandparents passed away. The program from Lily's first gymnastic program or Cole's piano recital. Anything you want to keep that doesn't fit into one of the other categories can go here.

Because I buy the hard sided binders, they have the plastic windows on the front, back and spine. ** That is a nice cover for the binder. Slip in a favorite drawing into the front of the Art binder. Put a favorite portrait or a few snapshots into the cover of the Portraits binder. If you also label the spine, you'll know which one to grab for on the first try.

You will invariably fill up a binder. The beauty of this system is you just pop a new label on the spine of the filled binder with the appropriate date span and start a new binder labeled "Art book 2". Remember to keep the binders in a convenient location, too. We keep each child's binders on a top shelf in their closet. Out of reach for little ones but accessible to you. Buy a book end and you can stand them all up against a wall side.

Part 2; Keepsakes (School)
This I do differently. You wouldn't have to - you could easily make your own school binder and add a 4th to the collection above.

I purchased each of my children a "School Memories" book - especially made for keeping important school stuff. There is one pocketed page for each year where you can record all vital stats, tape on a school photo and write down all the favorites from that year. In the pocket you can keep the class photo, report cards, notes from teachers, school work and a few other things. Lillian Vernon has a cute one at http://www.lillianvernon.com/kids . I personally prefer the one at Lake Shore Learning Store in St. Louis Park - you can see it online at http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/ - search 'keepsake book school'. I also add some of the bigger school projects (just the really good ones!) into that larger kids art portfolio I mentioned earlier. You can find those online as well. We got ours also at the Lakeshore Learning Store.

This system is really slick & easy. But organized. You'll love it.

Notes:
* Several years ago, we had a speaker in our MOPS group who shared the idea of doing a Birthday Interview each year with your child. I'm sorry I no longer know who to attribute this to, but I loved the idea. It is just a one page document, stored on my PC that either you or your child fills out on their birthday. Same questions every year. Their past year answers are just precious! You can make your own, or use mine. **Look for lots of brightly colored binders on sale at office supply stores after the school supply rush is over.