Project 365: Day 302 - October 28

There's a certain amount of guilt that comes with being a mother. It may being the day you find out that you've got one on the way, or it might come later. Unless you're completely immune to feeling guilty, it will come.

Did I eat right? Have I done everything according to Spock, Dobson, my mother, his mother, or even the nosy woman down the road? It doesn't take much for a new mother to feel inferior and insecure.

One of the things that I've always done was to save the kids' holiday artwork. Aw. Sweet. So nice. I thought it was cute to see it again every year and since it got packed away it wasn't really in the way. And besides, who was I to toss something they thought was special? But yet, it was adding to the clutter of our house and our minds.

So, when I unpacked the two huge boxes of Halloween and Thanksgiving things (stuff, knick knacks, decorations, books, and whatever) I culled through and got rid of the cutest little hair bows and accessories, and outgrown holiday Ts. Luckily we have several little friends who still love to doll up for the holidays!

Then I saw the artwork, but it wasn't really artwork at all - just crafts. Crafts without personality even. Why keep it? So I took this shot, and tossed most of it. I might have kept the spoon-headed pilgrim girl place card holder that Caroline made in kindergarten. And I know I kept Will's "I'm Thankful" from preschool when he was thankful for dump trucks and Thomas the tank engine. That's it though - gone are the spiders, pine cone turkeys, and pumpkin glyphs. Also gone is the guilt that used to come with tossing anything "special" the kids brought home. Truthfully though, if there is something truly special they get to save it in a treasure box that is kept in the attic.

We're now down to one box of fall stuff. There's no way around that one box, so I'll give up and rest up to conquer the Christmas boxes!