by Christina Katz
The paper piles start to form after backpacks are emptied—graded homework and tests, appeals for donations and volunteer time, yearbook payments and extra-curricular enrichment, and calls to rally school spirit.
If you have multiple kids, you’d better act fast before the torrent takes over an entire room in your home. It’s only a matter of time before more papers come reminding you of their predecessors, which you forgot to sign and return. Or, maybe you just lost track of them in the flood.
What happened to the paper-free plan? Remember how technology was going to relieve us of all of this madness?
Maybe we’ll get there some day. In the meantime, a steady stream of paperwork is heading your way again and you need to learn how to manage it.
Pick & Choose. You’ll need to learn what to participate in and what to pass over. PTA? Yes. Fun Run? Okay. Basketball fundraiser? Maybe not this year. Scholastic book purchases every month? It’s up to you. Select what you can manage and don’t worry about doing more. Whatever you can handle, let it be enough.
Respond Immediately. Don’t wait for the third round of requests for payments for the annual yearbook. Instead, always respond immediately to anything you want to participate in and trash the rest. Don’t confuse matters by waiting until later. If “immediately” doesn’t work for you, take care of multiple-step responses on Fridays or Mondays or whatever day works best.
But, It’s Art! You can keep it, but have some display cycles to put your kids’ artwork through for maximum enjoyment before the works go to the big craft heaven in the sky (or the big plastic tub in the basement or the attic or under the bed). In the meantime, hang up a “clothesline” in the kitchen, put up kids’ artwork in frames around the house, and hang magnetized or cork strips in their rooms for the parade of self-expression to come.
Also, have your child pose with the masterpiece and get several shots. Then “store” the masterpiece in the basement or garage on a special shelf or rack set aside for amazing artwork. When the shelf is full, take some shots of the whole range of work, from many angles. Then discretely dispose of the whole lot at the beginning of each new school year, leaving room for more.
Preserve the Standouts. Your child does not want to remember that she was the last one in class to memorize her addition and subtraction tables, so throw the evidence away, however she may wish to remember the awesome story she wrote when she could barely spell about how she and her best friend stared down a millipede on the playground during recess.
Recycle Most of It. Initially, you will look at what your kids hand you and think, “Oh my gosh, my baby made this.” However, trust me, the thrill quickly fades. Discern if you want to toss it — quickly — or not.
Share the Wealth. At some point, you will have your paper trail tamed, but there is nothing you can (or should) do to hamper your child’s insatiable desire to create.
Keep manila envelopes addressed and ready to mail to relatives so you can easily capture and share some of the seasonal artwork overflow with them. After all, you’ve got a lot of paper joy floating around your home — you may as well share.
Author, journalist and writing coach Christina Katz likes school, and even some of the parents who insist on double-parking at child pick-up time, but paper clutter doesn’t stand a chance.
