At kid two you start to realize that all kids make people/dogs/fish/stars like that so you don’t show it off as much. Just the extra special ones that you KNOW are darn good pieces. You wear the handmade jewelry with pride, but take it off once you get in the car. You don’t display EVERY thing, but a lot of it. The basement or playroom makes a nice art gallery. You tell them the contest is already over, darnit.
Kids three+, well you acknowledge; praise; smile and nod; and then…….
Well then you either:
Take it to work where you have an office full of child art work. But don’t let the kids come visit anymore.
Give it to the hubby to take to work where he has an office full of art work and never take the kids to visit anymore.
You make a big deal of putting it into the special SAVINGS box so that it will be preserved forever.
You mail it off to long distance relatives.
You tell the kids you took it to the local hospital/nursing home/orphanage/ because they need extra special artwork for their barren walls. (yes my kids think there are orphanages - duh!)
You slip it into the garbage can after everyone walks away and dump Spaghetti sauce on top and then some wet lettuce and smash it all down really far, then take the bag to the garbage outside and hide it at the bottom and cover it up with mud.
Or you get distracted and put it in the garbage forgetting about the super secret covering up and then get caught by the innocent child who was throwing a broken pencil out.
Then you go to bed feeling the biggest piece of crap ever in the world.
My kids now do the following:
Tell me about their artwork that is displayed at the school, then they tell me that their art teacher liked it so much she took it home and decorated her walls with it.
Show me the A+ paper while holding it over the garbage can.
Tape it up in their closet or hide it in their desk like its contraband.
Ask me to give a long distance relative the cool necklace they made because they know she will really appreciate it.
Ask me if I threw it out before they even begin to look for anything lost.
Then I end up going to bed feeling like a complete piece of crap.
Who is working on this problem? Shouldn’t someone be working on an invention to help Moms and Dads all over the world with an over abundance of art work/A+ papers/ achievement letters????
LIGHTBULB!! – I just thought of something!!
I could SCAN it into my computer and make a DVD of all the things my kids ever made! -
how PATHETIC….
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| They won't fit on the scanner........... |
Going to go dig in the garbage…..
How are YOU?
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| If you look closely you can see pictures of the kids holding their artwork..... |
5 comments:
you fill up the fridge, then take a picture of it. then, you scrapbook the pictures. problem sovled.
right??? lol
Oh, man...I hear you. I recycle my first grader's stuff in front of him. I keep some good stuff to recycle later, but there's only so much of this stuff we can store. I've considered taking pictures of his stuff, but I'm not organized enough to actually do it. I saved a ton of my older boys' stuff...only to throw it away in the past couple years.
I used to send all my first grade crap home with the kids and I knew it would just end up in the garbage. Now I put everything in binders for them (with the help of moms) and send it home. I still think the binders go in the garbage sometimes.
As a teacher, I'm not sure why parents feel the need to keep A+ papers. Our parents never kept A+ papers. Acknowledge the grade, then when the kid goes to bed, shred it. Keep the art, if you want, or shred it too. I understand that you want to keep the special jewelry and stuff. My mom kept it all in one box that she promptly handed me when I got my own place.
If something is nice, I'll laminate it. I try to help out that way, at least. I like Teresa's picture idea though.
For us, it has come to the garbage and (98% of the time) spaghetti sauce on top of it. For the times when I forget- I must provide an extra dose of counseling and comfort. But there have been times when I've discovered a piece that I have discarded (with the garbage-on- top method) rescued and hiding under a pillow.
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