What the Kids said...

From the Black Book of Quotes. May.

Ethan: Mum, so when you turn 38, will you be going to a Nursing Home?
Mum: ????

Ethan: I am 6, Maddie is 3, and Sam is 0. Not old enough to be a Pest.
Mum: (I never call my children pests!!) : /

Sammy wearing a lovely blue & white striped Bonds Wondersuit.
Ethan: Mum, why is Sam in a tea towel?

Mum: Maddie, go and put some socks on please.
Maddie: But Mum, there's only 1, 1, 1, 1, 1... (meaning no pairs, only 1 of each sock in drawer).

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.

Everybody has a weakness

Everybody has a weakness.

Everybody has that One thing you can't help but accumulate. It might be teapots, or black dresses, or bikes (Husband). But for me, it's kids books. I can't stop buying kids books. I love picture books. Of course, I try to shop mostly at op-shops and so minimise the demand for new things. But I also love buying online (Book Depository). I can't help it.

What to do, what to do...

I've read about the 100 Things Challenge online, where people are trying to get down to owning only a 100 things, but they often count books in One Lot. I guess they can't help it either!

Some ideas:

1. I will round up all the kids books in the house and actually do some counting. When I see how many I own already, maybe I won't feel the need to buy more!!

2. I love using the local library. So instead of feeling the need to own Every Good Kids Book, I will borrow more. You could also make suggestions to the librarian if they don't have a particular author you really like. At my local library, you can borrow 25 per card (so with my two kids, we can borrow 75!).

3. Edit, edit edit - and just keep the very best. Not "Mr" and "Miss" books. They are dreadful! Have you ever tried to read them out loud? I want to just keep the very best e.g. Dr De Soto (William Steig), Where the Wild Things are (Maurice Sendak), Willy the Wimp (Anthony Brown) etc.

4. Donate to good friends - it's often easier to be "generous" and give to people around you. So if I have a double up of something, or a couple of books that are very similiar (for e.g I have about 7 Miffy books & 18 Peter Rabbit books), then I can give them away. That is, if they don't mind second hand books.

5. Enlist the help of your children - they can go through the books with me and donate the ones they don't read anymore. It's good for me to teach them to Edit, and to Give.

6. Give yourself a physical limit (this is a good tip from Byron) - so I have given myself a small bookcase for the kids books. If they don't fit, some gotta go. One in, one out!!

What do I do with Toys?

8 of my 11 boxes stored here

It's pretty challenging trying to be Minimalist when you are a Mum!

Suddenly what you own grows exponentially. And you have no control. You get given stuff by very generous friends and family. It's toys, toys and more toys!!!

Before kids, Husband used to joke, "They will get a suitcase each. And whatever doesn't fit, they don't keep" Ha! Only if.

I like Bea's policy - from Zero Waste Home blog - she lets her boys have four medium sized boxes/crates. When they want to add a new toy to their collection, she asks them to go through what they already own and donate. Then they make space in one of the boxes. One in, One Out. I like the idea that she teaches them to Edit. And Give. You can't just keep adding to your pile.

Right now, I have 11 medium boxes.

Counting and taking stock. It's a small step.