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How to Store Your Child's Treasured Items
Filed under: Baby Essentials, Toys
Store treasured artwork properly. Credit: Getty Images
Sort it: Start by deciding what you want to save, which is a process in itself. Before sticking that painting in a box, be sure you want to spend the time, energy and money to save something long term, says Pamela Macleod, president of Organized From A to Z in Englewood, N.J. She tells ParentDish that parents should ask themselves tough questions: Do you really need to save every piece of artwork from kindergarten? Could someone else wear your daughter's beloved holiday dress?
Store it: Next, consider the amount of space you have to store things long term.
"Consider the elements," Olescia Hanson,spokesperson for The Container Store, tells ParentDish. "The garage, attic or basement -- you do not want that because of temperature variations and moisture."
Be sure you have sturdy, acid-free archival boxes. The boxes are strong enough to withstand years of protecting and stacking on a closet shelf. Wrap each item in a separate piece of acid-free tissue paper and place it in a box without crowding.
Make sure clothing is clean and stored separately from shoes or boots. Be sure to pack shoes or boots with clean packing material or even plastic shopping bags to preserve their shape, Macleod suggests. For the most sentimental clothing, like christening gowns or a Bar-Miztvah suit, consider having your dry cleaner preserve them to prevent yellowing.
Label it: Don't forget to label the boxes with something like "Claire's artwork, age 6" or "Brandon's baseball uniform, size 5-6." Macleod says parents are often amazed how quickly they forget what's inside different boxes.
There are options for the space-squeezed, too. Consider taking a digital picture of your kindergartner's favorite artwork. Have your child hold it and smile. Then you can frame it, no storage required.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
2-10-2011 @ 6:55PM
Coop said...If you aren't going to frame it and hang it or put it in a scrap book right away, you might as well get rid of it TODAY. Storing stuff like this just results in opening a box full of dry rotted paper 10 or 15 years from now. The only thing I would save would be favorite blankies or clothing articles, which I would then cut up and sew into a quilt (or beg my aunt to do for me. . . ). Take it from an incurable "saver," you're wasting your time and space. At most, pick ONE representative sample from each year of school papers and stick it in a scrapbook. You might actually look at that. But, you'll NEVER sit down and look through box after box of this stuff. And, when you die, your kids will just throw it all out to the curb anyway.
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