Pick and Choose

My mom used to save a bunch of our stuff from our school years when we were younger. A picture of this, a story about that. Odds and sods that she found worthy of hanging on to. I think as the years have gone by and the space has gotten smaller, the items have been weaned through and the pile of adorable things I did on paper has gotten smaller. And fair enough.

When McK finished kindergarten I expected some of her more stellar works to make their way home to me. Today I sifted through it. It was a years worth of work. All of it. Every scrap of paper she scrawled her name on. Every heart or flower she drew. Really? Teach? You didn't want to keep any of it? Or throw it away for us so we wouldn't have to be riddled with guilt and end up keeping every paper where she repeated letters of the alphabet? Sigh. Fine. I'll do the dirty work.

Sorting through the mass of creation was easier than I though. The really cute, brilliant stuff was in THIS pile, and the repetetive math-y boring stuff was in THAT pile. I was making good headway through her SECOND BINDER (not to be confused with the file folder full of stuff or the large brown paper grocery bag full of more precious stuff) and she walked in. What was I doing, she asked. Well. I think the idea of some of her "stuff" ending up in the garbage would put her in the hospital. So I lied.

"One pile is of stuff I am going to pack away safe for the new house. And the other is stuff I want to keep out so I can look at it ALL THE TIME". I think she believed me. My "keep" pile is pretty small. But I am trying to only save the really precious pieces. The "to-go" bag, AKA the stuff I'll "pack", is sitting by the wall. I didn't dare throw it out yet. Its still fresh in her steel trap mind. The toss out will have to be stealthy and smooth.

You see, not only does she have a solid gold memory, but she keeps EVERYTHING. And combined, she remembers EVERYTHING that she keeps. She keeps the plastic hangy thing that holds a price tang on an item of clothing. She keeps the twist ties from the produce section in the grocery store, ESPECIALLY if she's made a decoration out of them. So to SEE her work, and KNOW its there, and have FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of where both piles are currently stashed? Well. I'm pretty much screwed.