Do you feel like you are swimming in the stuff that your kids bring home from school?
Do you feel like you have more papers, projects, pictures, works of art, programs, awards, and memorabilia than you can manage?
Do you feel completely overwhelmed by the very idea of organizing all this stuff?
Do you have a desire to bring some order to the chaos, and ultimately have organized scrapbooks for your kids?
Me too, friends. Me. Too.
I really needed to get a grip on all the stuff for my kids so I embarked on a little journey with a big goal. I decided that having a video camera along for the ride might end up being beneficial for some of you too. That’s the goal. This is not a quick tutorial. This video is nearly 30 minutes long and you’ll feel like you’re hanging out with me in our home office as I walk you through my own process of creating order out of chaos. You’ll appreciate the fact that I’m years behind on the kids’ scrapbooks. And you’ll see first-hand what I’m doing to get to a place where I no longer feel Mom Guilt.
Join me on this quest to get organized. This video was built piece-by-piece over many weeks. If I had nothing else going on, this would all have happened in a few days. But that’s not my real life. So I fit it in a little here, a little there. Many outfits. Many hairstyles. Too many outtakes that warrant their own video … some day.
I genuinely want you to feel inspired to get organized with your kids’ stuff without being completely overwhelmed. In fact, I expect that many of you will even get organized with your own childhood and school stuff as well. (But just take one thing at a time, okay?)
As I mentioned in the video, I’m looking forward to hearing from you, too. If you have insights to share that will help us in developing product that will ultimately help you, don’t be shy. We are literally in the middle of designing school/childhood products right now and I invite you to participate in our brainstorming. Consider yourself an honorary team member of Becky Higgins LLC. So much of what we have done is a result of listening to our customers and readers. Your suggestions will be heard and considered.
Tags: kids' stuff, school, video
[...] happened to miss my new video, I share more on this topic in much more detail. Check it out – Get Organized With Kids’s Stuff. I love the discussion in the comments of that blog post, by the way. There were a few comments [...]
Hi Becky, This video was really great for encouraging and inspiring us all to be able to do get our memories into albums. I live with heavy mommy guilt! I love the idea of scanning, but I noticed that you didn’t have any of the larger, 17X20 inch papers that are used on easels at school. I have a big, big pile of those. Do you have any recommendations for scanning those in? Kinkos? Or some other suggestion for capturing the art. I have tried photographing, but it really isn’t the same.
Thank you so much for everything you do. You are inspiring in so many ways!
For the school kits I would love to see Journaling prompt cards. I try to do this at my kids birthdays, but having a reminder or 2 to do it during the year would be great… stuff like
my friends are:
my favorite activity is:
my favorite songs:
My favorite school lunch is:
books I love:
what I learned this month/week/year:
etc…
also, multiple cards to journal “I’m thankful/grateful for”: again, I could make these myself, but haven’t done it yet and it would be a good reminder once a month/week. they could be from our point of view or our child’s words… counting our blessings!
a boy set and a girl set would be nice, but at the same time I wouldn’t want them to be overly boy or girl… what if my boy isn’t into soccer balls and base balls? So, a neutral set would be just fine too! Can’t wait to hear more about these sets!
As well as dating artwork it is a great idea (especially when children are younger) to make a note of what the drawing or painting is about! Can be the source of lots of laughter years down the line.
I loved this video — I am organizing (and purging a little!) right now
I have not yet started using Project Life, though it looks like a great product, because traditional scrapbooking is still “working” for me (and giving me a lot of joy). So when you shared a glimpse of Porter’s “traditional” scrapbook pages in this video, it was such a treat. I have your sketches books just about memorized! For those of us who still scrap traditionally, would you consider posting more “peeks” into your scrapbooks? Even though they are from a few years ago, the page designs still look so current and pretty (and scrap-liftable — is that a word?).
So, Becky… that stack of papers in the end… the ones that have been scanned and put into his scrapbook… the next step for those is the recycling bin right??? (Do you keep any filed away still or do you part with them?)
Somebody please just tell me it is okay to be rid of the big stacks I have finished with!
This sentimental mom is needing a push!
What would be a good email address to reply to your request for our ideas/input on organizational ideas? I have a great system that I think others could benefit from, and have pics to share on how it works for me. I have 3 girls (2nd grade, Kinder, and age 2) and have developed a system for storage that works well for us. No more mom guilt! (In that area anyway!) Would love to share if I knew where to email this info! Thanks!
[...] are in the form of a Shutterfly photo book, which I discuss briefly at the very beginning of my “Getting Organized with Kids’ Stuff” video. You can certainly implement scanned art or scanned cards or scanned anything into digital pages or [...]
Hello Becky! What kind of bookshelves do you store your albums on? (in this video) Are they ikea? or are they custom made?
[...] be the hardest part about starting to scrapbook. To help you out with some of the first steps, I’ve attached a blog post here by Becky Higgins (from her blog at her site). If there’s anyone I could point you to for help [...]
Great video Becky! I am so glad that I took the time to watch it. I love the idea of scanning items and using the smaller version in scrapbooks. I know that I will use many of the ideas that you shared. Thank you!
I finally had time to watch! Thank you so much Becky for all you do for us! This video is very helpful.
As I have said before, I was stuck and your philosophy and products have freed me up.
I have a son graduating from high school in two and a half months and I am hoping that I can put together an album for him by that day. I don’t have a lot of time and do have a lot of papers and photos to sort through, so it will be a bit of a rush job.
But, another wonderful thing about your products is that I can easily move things around if I end up needing to do that after that album is finished.
The products that I started with 12 or so years ago involved permanent adhesion of photos (that were not digital). If I lose the negatives, then that photo is stuck or possibly damaged if I try to remove it. (I guess scanning is an option, too.)
Anyway, I like the idea of photos just being slipped in plastics so much better!
I use your CK school kit and love it. I still think its perfect. To simplify it more would be to use pocket page protectors with title cards and embellishments that are school themed that fit in the pockets. I love using the big envelopes to store all their papers.
I would want a page protector that has a horizontal 8X10 spot for the class picture.
so if you’ve been scrapbooking since you were 17 you have only really been doing this for 2 years? ;0)
This video was so timely. Just yesterday I set up a table and started pulling out all the unfinished (or never started) project materials, pics, pages, scrapbooks, misc memorabilia and started organizing. The my husband mentioned all the schoolwork and artwork from the kids. I loved that you shared your piles and unfinished scrapbooks too. Thank you for all of your information and inspiration.
P.S. You look great in ANY hairstyles!
Becky,
I’m embarrassed to say, under my bed is a storage container with all the art and papers from my sons primary years. He’s 28! I think I can do this.
Thanks,
Dee
Another thing I find helpful, I am a meticulous calendar keeper. I write all kinds of things in my daily calendar. So, when I sat down to organize, I included not only year books from my children’s school but also all my calendars from years past so I can refer back to them to find an event and the date it happened.
Thank you Becky. I LOVE your encouragement. Just what I need to know I can get this completed too. Thankfully, my Claire is just about to start Kindergarten, so I’m not that far behind.
I am so fortunate to have the School Years kit for my 8 year old son. I have been crossing my fingers that you would do something like it again so I can use it for my 4 year old daughter who’s about to enter kindergarten! YAY!!!