My mom saved a ton of stuff when I was in elementary. Then her filing cabinet got full and she weeded it down with my help (I was maybe middle school age). So now I have maybe an inch-high stack of school papers/art projects, and I think that's more than plenty. (I also have my old yearbooks, pictures etc, but I don't think they fall into a "stuff to be weeded" pile.) As for your questions: "First, should I merge all of these mini-piles into one room?" I wouldn't. I can't ever manage to sit down and go through a mountain of papers. I'd rather grab one mini-pile, sort through it, and then put it away. "Do I go through these piles/papers first and divide them into two (one pertaining to each child?) " I would think that it should be divided by child so that they can easily be passed on to them years from now. "Or, as I handle each paper, do I decide "School" vs "Non-School" and then break it down to each child? " No. Why would you? Are you going to store it seperately? Ideally, you'd have only the most important keepsakes and there wouldn't be many so it'd be easy to go through later and find all "nonschool" stuff if need be. "Or, do I decide "Keep" or "Toss" as I go through these piles? And if I do it this way, does the "Keep" pile get sorted?" Just Keep or Toss for now. If it really bugs you later, you can always sort it later. "I'm thinking that then I will separate each kid's stuff into the elementary school years, the middle school years, and then the high school years. ...Should I create folders for each grade and then put school and non-school items in those folders? " Wow, it sounds like you're keeping a lot more than one sample per year!! Even if there's say 3 papers with with "thoughtful comments" on it, that's a maximum of 24 pieces of paper for all of elementary school! I just think you're making an overly complex system. Go through the piles, pick out the best stuff. Write the child's name and grade on each piece of paper if it's not on there already. Stick it in a box, label the box, and call it done! The benefits of a simple system are: 1) Better chance of actually doing it 2) if you really really feel the urge to subdivide the keepsakes by year, it can be easily done. But honestly I think that if you need to do that then you've kept too much.

I'm new to this board as well. I am looking for ideas to downsize our stuff. It is so hard. I tend to want to save DD's too small dress for a cousin who lives an hour away and won't fit into it for 4 years. I pile, bag, save things only to find that recipients are overwhelmed with things and are not always willing to take on stuff they might need in a few years. It's a NOW world. Anyway, I feel I am always in put away / tidy mode and I can't progress to actual cleaning. I spray a little windex, throw down comet in the bathroom, laundy, cook, and dishes and that's about it. My swifter wet jet is a godsend. 24 hours in a day and 100 hours of chores to do. As for hobbies, I think they are very worthwhile (even though I don't have much time now for my top 10, or even top 3 thanks to full time job and mother to 2 busy gals). I gave up one craft that I very much enjoyed because I found it tiresome to constantly have to hunt down materials to make a new project exactly like the one I made last year. Also, I often spent alot more $ on my craft project than I could have bought a ready made for. Granted, I would have some extra materials, but not enough, so the buying cycle continued. I have noticed that people without hobbies, whether its music, exercise, art, crafts, wood work, genealogy, etc. are bored people and this multiplies as you age. So often, I see people who could easily retire continue to work just so they'll have something to do. I think that's sad.

For my final in my Yearbook class, my class has been assigned to do a ten page yearbook about ourselves. And so we can choose between putting it together by hand (scrap-booking, etc) or by using Adobe ID. I NEED your help. Finals are due in three weeks! Thank you. Sincerely, Keisha

I want to add something..the harshest environment, to me. was actually pre-school. So that was the place for building resilience Teachers and especially nannies were mostly very strict ranging to downright mean and abusive, I understands they were overworked and underpaid, but no warmth whatsoever..punishments could be very humiliating, or constant threats of humiliating punishments..cruel remarks.. I mean very cruel. They got physically abusive too sometimes, with problematic kids. I was compliant, bright, and useful-in a sense that I knew how to read very early, so they'd often tell me to read aloud when them themselves were tired. I liked reading-but I didn't like being singled out. Sometimes teachers from other classrooms were borrowing me to read there. My Mom was righfully very much against it, and asked them not to, but they didn't listen. Now I had a huge minus. I was a textbook for Celiac disease but nobody knew it back then..I would be throwing up there. A lot. sometimes up to three times per day. Doctors said "Nerves". Nerves my whatever, but it was repulsive for everyone-and then of course it was nerves too. I was very ashamed but it was beyond my control. I knew though I have to be there every single day from 7 to 6, because such is life, I never complained. It got better(the throwing up) by the time I was 6(different system..we started school at 7 then, and last year in pre school was like kindergarden here. Then they changed it) They had some strange idea that food h a s to be eaten and finished and plate clean no matter what. Me and some other skinny girl(I was, too, small and skinny, but she was like half of me..) often couldn't finish it and nannies were mad at us so they'd tell us nasty things about us, our parents..we were 4 years old maybe? I stiil got it better than many others, like a boy who was too active and a handful in general..he also wetted his bed..they screamed at him horribly..one teacher punched him in the face. Hard. I'd make it shorter. When I went to first parent night in my daughter's pre-school, already in Israel, and realized nobody will humiliate her, or tell her nasty things, or threaten taking her naked around the school, or stand on a chair..in short that she woud be treated like one should treat others, especially kids, like she's not an annoying object, -I cried. I cried right there, not out loud of course, but tears were streaming down my cheeks-because she'd be treated as a human. The sheer realization of it made me cry. I've much to add, but my posts are too long, and I don't want to take too much space. Many years after, we had practice in another pre-school, also considered very good (mine was considered the best. Mind you. They were the best. LOL.)-and a lovely, shy quiet little girl didn't want to eat her supper..the teacher closed her nostrils so her mouth would open and started pouring that soup down her throat..the girl was sobbing and choking..we were 13, we looked at it helplessly-we were 13 year olds sent to practice. and teacher was AN ADULT..