A minimalist mum: Keeping children's artworks

This is a hard one, as I would like to keep EVERYTHING my children create! I love their paintings and the little doodles on paper. Kids are very creative and make all sorts of cool things. Picasso apparently said, "Every child is an artist."

Obviously, keeping all of their artworks is not possible! So I gotta edit, choose and keep only the best.

What do I do?

1. Bring it altogether in one lot. It always helps me to see how many I actually have.

2. Time also helps. I kept everything my son (now 5) did as a two year old, and I look at some of them now and think...hmmm...some can be recylcled!

3. Give yourself a physical limit - e.g. One big box per child.

4. Give yourself a number - e.g. Keep 20 paintings per child per year. (Remember, if you do the maths, that is 15 yrs x 20 = 300, if you count kindergarten and two years of preschool). You now multiply that with the number of children in your family.

5. Put three or four that are similar together and choose only one out of the lot.

6. Of course, the obvious, take pictures of the artworks! Include the artist in the picture.

7. Use as wrapping paper.

8. Send some to Grandma. And some to Great-grandma.

9. Cut out some (if they will cooperate!) and use to make nice cards.

10. Buy a display folder and display the best. Ask your child to help you choose the ones to put in the display folder.

11. Once you have a collection of digital photos, make a photo book every 2 or 3 years. This will also make a great gift.

I like writing the name of the child on the back of the paper, plus the date. I've just started writing a sentence to go with the artwork as well.

Give Away Box

I have a box in my bedroom that is ready to go to Vinnies*. It's the Permanent Give Away Box. There's a nice Vinnies up the road, with nice old friendly ladies volunteering there. The box gets filled up with things that I no longer need.

Once it gets full, I put it on the pram and go for a walk up the road and donate the box.

It's a bit messy having a box out permanently, but I find if it's not in there, it's all too easy to put whatever I no longer need back in storage.

One downside is that the kids sometimes rummage through it and suddenly decide something is their new favourite toy. So I usually try and disguise it with an old item of clothing on top. Or put a lid on the box. Or get it out the door quick - during their sleep time.

It's good to not think too much about it! I try to follow my guts. I haven't used it, I don't really like it...in it goes. Don't think about how much it cost, who gave it to you, how the kids used to play with it etc. Because more often than not, I'm not going to miss it. In fact, I don't think I can even remember what was in last week's box.

*St Vincent de Paul's: a charity store. I think Americans call them Goodwill stores. There's a few others in Sydney like Anglicare and Salvos (Salvation Army), usually run by a church, selling secondhand goods to help the disadvantaged. They always welcome donations - clothes, books, toys, kitchen stuff - but not big white goods.

My House is not All White & Minimalist

I wish it was!

I'm working on it - as one box leaves the house each week...one box of unused things. Things that others can use. Things that I don't need to hold on to indefinitely.

Husband is always saying to me, "Watch out, people will come over and look at our place and say, 'This is not Minimalist!'"

Very true. We have our messes and piles. A few...or six.

The next few projects are:

1. Desk

2. Kids play area - this is almost untameable!!!

3. Photos & Negatives

4. Camping gear

I've tackled the filing cabinet and I am proud to say that I was not defeated! :) I am now giving it away to a friend. I've transferred all our papers into folders. Not exactly minimalist (as I have ten (!)), but definitely less bulky than a filing cabinet. And easier to file and access. They are also lime green, which is a very attractive colour.

No TV

We don't have a TV. It's something we often "brag" about. ;)

See link here to the onion article: (Thanks BB).

When we got married ten years ago, we didn't buy a TV straight away because we wanted to "just talk" and "focus on our relationship". It lasted six months (!)

Ten years on, and we don't have a TV again...mostly because we bought a new (second-hand) lounge and it was a tad big for our tiny living room. It is a modular corner lounge, and it covered the TV socket on the wall. So for a few days, the TV kind of just hung around, getting in the way, not plugged in...and then the light went on. Why keep it? Why not get rid of it?

Now, we quite enjoy not having one.

Here are some of my reasons why:

More time - For me, it was such a time-waster. I would watch at least one show every night. Sometimes even two. It was becoming a very bad habit - of thinking I could only unwind and relax in front of the TV.

More fun stuff - With the "spare" time, we've now started doing some fun stuff. Husband has taken up a new hobby - guitar - and is even getting lessons. I read a lot more, listen to music, and have started some serious decluttering! (and writing about it on this blog).

Good for the kids - It's less "just-sitting-there" activity, less advertising, and less fighting over what to watch (with the big age gap & gender difference, my kids watch different things). More time for them to just be, play, and make things. I am very lucky to have a massive backyard...so I just lock them out there for the afternoon.

Less furniture - I've only got a lounge & a sideboard in my living room. I don't need another bulky piece of furniture to house the TV, DVD player and remotes.

Less dusting - as above.

Less electricity - I hear that the flat screens are huge energy suckers.

Less worry - if I spent a fair bit of money on a nice flat screen, I would worry about the kids damaging it, or it being stolen. But with less stuff, there's not much you would steal here. ;)

Miss Minimalist talks about no TV here
The Minimalists talk about it too here

Soy Chicken

You can either bake this or fry/stew on stove-top. Of course, I prefer baking - in the oven - then finished!

Ingredients:
Chicken Middle Wing 2 kg
Rice to serve
1 cup vinegar
1 cup soy sauce (dark)
1 cup sugar

Method:
1. Mix the three cups of ingredients. Set aside.
2. Place chicken in a big oven dish. Pour mixture over chicken.
3. Bake in oven at 180C until done. (1.5 hrs approx).
4. Serve with rice & steamed greens.

*For some fanciness, sprinkle sesame seeds (as in the picture). :)

Recipe: Japanese Curry (Vegetarian)

Again, very very easy. And you use whatever veg you've got in the house. All you need is the curry block and rice. Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:
Rice
Japanese Curry Block
Veg (onion, carrot, zucchini, potato, green beans, broccoli etc)

Method:
1. Fry the veg with a bit of oil.
2. Add just enough water to cover the veg.
3. Add the curry block. Lower the heat. Stir until nice and thick.
4. Serve with rice.

*You could add beef chunks and fry that up first, before the veggies.

A Minimalist Recipe: Chicken Roast

Everybody has their way of doing roast...and of course, your mum's roast will always be the best! But I wanted to share my roast ideas, as it is dead-simple, and a one tray recipe. I love simplicity of roast. One meal, all in one, all in the oven, all done!

Chicken Roast

You need:
2 whole chickens
olive oil
salt
some veg (potato, onion, carrot, pumpkin, green beans*)

1. Wash the chicken, pat them dry. Lay out on tray.
2. Rub a little bit of olive oil on the chicken.
3. Sprinkle salt on top (lots!)
4. Round up whatever veg you've got, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on top.
5. Put the whole tray in the oven on low (160C) for about 1.5-2 hrs.
6. Microwave the beans with a bit of water. Don't put these in the oven!

Of course, if you wanted to go fancy, you can cut up a lemon, and put it in the cavity of the chicken. You could also get some bacon or pancetta (Italian bacon) and mix it with some fresh breadcrumbs and put it in beneath the skin of the chicken breast...but then, you wouldn't be a Minimalist Cook, would you?? ;)