Why I Want My Kids to Learn to Let Go

Something important I've learned, in my own life, is that keeping things for a long time requires maintenance.
It takes mental energy just to store something, to find it again when you actually need it.
And I feel like it's so important for me to instill the skill of letting go in my kids.

How We Actually Do It

I do this with their art, with their toys too.
We go over everything together. We discuss whether we should keep it or not.
They get to make some of the decisions. They also know they can't keep everything, because we can't, and shouldn't, store everything.

When we do this, we talk about the point of making things.
Having fun making it. Calming the body. Letting the imagination grow.
We don't have to keep it and have it forever for it to be meaningful.

A Few Other Tools

When I feel like keeping the actual thing is too much, I'll suggest we do this one as a picture instead.
I'm hoping to eventually make each of them a little book of their favorite paintings and things.

I still keep a small amount from each year, and honestly I've been thinking about making that even smaller too.
Maybe turning most of it into a picture book, and letting go of even more of the physical stuff.

The Folder She Can't Put Down

But my little one, she really loves going through her folder.
She has this folder where everything lives, and she loves pulling it out and going over all of it.
Every birthday card. Every birthday crown. All her artwork from the last few years.
She really loves doing this.

For me, honestly, it's pretty messy. Getting everything out and then having to put it all back in.

That's why I really want to make a coffee table book, something that could just live in the living room, that people could browse.
She could show it to people herself, because she genuinely loves going over her things and seeing everything again.

So that's an idea I've been playing with.

Try It Yourself

We've come a long way with our decluttering skills, my kids and me.

It didn't happen overnight. But it's become a normal part of how we live now, going through things together, letting go without it feeling like a loss.

So try it. Sit down with the pile, whatever it is in your house. See what wonderful things it brings to your life.