The Fine Art of Paper Management
Jill Savage
1/26/02 Pantagraph Hearts at Home column
Do you ever lose your kitchen counter? Do you find yourself simply moving mail and school papers from one pile to another? Do you struggle knowing what wonderful art papers to keep and what to discard? Are you frantically searching for your child's field trip permission slip minutes before they leave for school? If you can answer yes to any of the above questions, you are not alone. Most mothers struggle with the hundreds of school papers that descend upon our kitchen counters every week. When you add in information about the soccer league, church programs, and kindergarten registration it becomes almost overwhelming. Then the mail comes each day and you are ready to throw in the towel. How can we handle all of the paper that comes into our home each day? What can we do to minimize the stress this adds to our life?
With four children ranging from ages 5-17, it seems that paper management is one of my biggest jobs. By default, I'm a pile maker. My mom was a pile maker, too. Of course, she always seemed to know what pile that permission slip was in. I, on the other hand, found myself being stressed about not having the use of my kitchen counter. I didn't want to live simply moving one pile to another just to prepare dinner. I had to find a new way.
Through the help of organized friends and Don Azlett's book "Clutters Last Stand", I finally began learning new strategies for handling the snowstorm of papers that blow in each day. Here are some of the tips I've learned over the years:
When trying to decide what cute art papers to save, anything that has their picture on it or has been created using a handprint or footprint takes priority. When looking at a picture of a snowman that's been created with glued cottonballs and a picture of a turkey created out of Austin's handprint--the handprint picture is saved and the cottonball snowman is tossed. As children grow older, save one or two major school projects, papers, or essays that they particularly enjoyed doing.
Toss school papers everyday unless they fit the above criteria. Make sure you toss them out of your child's sight to eliminate confusion for the child. Some moms choose to toss while the child is at school the next day. After all, new papers will be coming home in a few hours. If you struggle with tossing papers so soon, put their school papers in a hanging file each day and empty the file each Monday to prepare for the next influx of papers.
Consider keeping a 9x12 envelope addressed to each set of grandparents. Rather than throwing away a child's work, put it in the envelope to mail to the grandparents once a month. This is a great way to keep grandparents involved in their grandchildren's daily accomplishments!
Display artwork and good papers prominently. Many of us use the refrigerator as a makeshift bulletin board. In one home we lived in, I made a display for artwork going down the basement stairs. We draped a large fishing net on the wall and used clothespins to clip new artwork and school papers to the net. Remember each time you add one to the display, you remove one, as well.
When the kids come home after school or preschool immediately ask for school papers. Fill out permission forms and attach checks, if necessary, and place back in their school bag for the next day. Don't let them sit and hope you remember them--just handle them once.
Transfer dates and pertinent information for activities to a family calendar or your personal planner. Throw away newsletters and information pages as soon as the dates are transferred.
Keep a hanging file system in the area where the papers seem to congregate. Make a file for each child for any papers that need to be kept for upcoming activities. Create files for bills and medical/insurance paperwork. Keep some revolving files on hand for seasonal projects. Are you planning a vacation this summer? Make a vacation file to keep brochures, maps, and travel reservations together. Is your child going to summer camp or participating in a summer mission trip? Make a file for it to keep correspondence, packing lists, and brochures at easy reach.
Keep a file or an "inbox" for papers you have finished with, but dad still needs to see. Make sure your husband knows that he needs to discard the papers after he sees them.
Learning to manage paper clutter has not been easy for me--but it's been necessary as the home manager. And the fringe benefit of reclaiming my kitchen counter has been worth it all!
Jill Savage and her family of six live in Normal, Illinois. Jill is the founder and director of Hearts at Home,
http://www.hearts-at-home.org
and the author of "Professionalizing Motherhood". Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com
