That’s the schools finishing up for the summer holidays, meaning parents are about to be inundated with our children’s work from the last term.
Just when you thought you had enough lying around the house and cluttering up every drawer, cupboard and surface, now there’s going to be a whole bunch of ‘art’ to sift through.
So what are we supposed to do with all those kids’ drawings?
Put them on the fridge? Keep them somewhere safe? Or do as I like to do and get the kids to sign them, so we can give them to the grannies, papas, uncles and aunties as a ‘gift’.
Well, everyone loves a homemade item and it’s much more personal, right?
It’s always been the parent’s dilemma.
I used to bring home my own artworks and present them to my mum as if they were masterpieces.
Worse still was when I’d come back with my home economics cooking.
She always used to praise it and say how delicious it was. But she’s since confessed a lot of it was disgusting and she only ate it to make me happy.
Kids drawings will be precious one day
That’s how it is when it’s your own wee one. Everything is a masterpiece.
But do we really need to keep every single item they bring back?
One time I was caught out putting some of my kids’ drawings in the recycling bin.
My youngest asked me why I’d binned them and I had to do my best acting.
“Oops, how did that get there? I must have popped that in by accident. Thank goodness you noticed.”
The thing is though, how long will it be before these little squiggly drawings, painted hand prints and messy crayon pictures don’t come home any more?
As the kids grow older you’ll be seeing less and less of this sort of thing.
And one day you might even find you miss those pictures on the fridge.
Make space for memories
I’m not saying we need to keep everything. But I have now got myself a box where I can keep stuff like this.
Yes, it’s all going up into the loft, never to be seen until the next batch of masterpieces arrive.
But one year I’ll come across it during a clear-out and remember that I kept these treasures.
I’ll be able to look back at them and smile.
And maybe I’ll also remember to bring them out on the boys’ 18th birthdays so I can embarrass them while I show everyone the drawings they did as kids.
These days won’t last forever. And nobody should feel guilty about throwing the odd thing in the bin. But making space for some of these souvenirs will be worth it for the memories to come.
So go get a box and find a space in the attic. There’s room for another masterpiece on top of all the other junk up there.
