The inundation of paper and "The Box"

The start of a new school year at our house is an exciting time. It’s a time for us to shake off the laziness of the summer; sharpen new pencils to match the new adventures that we’ve only dreamed about in our minds. To start a fresh chapter in the book that is our lives. Hungry for the much needed information to make us smarter and better people and to share those experiences and information with our family members, so we as a whole, become well rounded. These are the gifts of a new school year and along with it the first day of school.

The thing that seems to follow a few short hours AFTER the first day of school is the inundation of PAPER! When my girls were small they had just a page or two of paper that they would bring home. For an example, the letter H paperwork with crayon scribbles all over it, that they were so proud of, and would want prominently displayed like a Monet on our fridge. I can handle one or two pieces of paper, the ten plus sheets of paper multiplied by three children and then again by how ever many days are in a school year is another animal ALL together! If you don’t have children imagine being overrun by almost a ream of paper on a monthly basis that your child ASSURES you is so priceless that it needs to be kept for prosperities sake! It gets a little daunting and really old really quick.

I don’t know about your house, but in our house, if you try to sneak a broken crayon or a single fairy shoe that hasn’t had a mate in months into the trashcan it starts a screaming match that would put Gordon Ramsey to shame! I have to be a ninja or act like the Mexican drug cartel in order to purge the broken crayon with half its paper missing into the trash can! Imagine the scene when I purposefully walk over and try to throw away “said H paper” from above into the trash that will have a HUNDRED mates to match over the span of this little one’s school year. This is the INTJ mama in me talking mind you. We learned pretty quick that we better come up with a better system and think it up quick or we were going to be overrun by paperwork that makes me want to drink on a nightly basis!

The system that we’ve come up with is the “box” system. If you happen to work in an office like I do, you get paper delivered in boxes. We go thru paper at work like water, thank GOD we recycle, and in no time we’ve got an extra paper box sitting around. This plain old nondescript paper box will become the receptacle for all great school work that DESPERATELY needs to be saved from the landfills. It also saves this mama from the hysterical meltdowns because, “MOMMY THREW MY PAPER AWAY!” As a mother I know that I’m supposed to be “sensitive” to my little’s needs and create a loving encouraging environment where they can thrive and create an atmosphere of love and acceptance, while also trying to balance the fact that someday they will go out into the world and have to deal with disappointment - LOTS of it. The logical part of my brain says, “These kids won’t give two shits about these papers when they are 20, wondering just like I did when I was given mine, why in the world these were kept.” Until then, and on the off chance that I am wrong, it has happened many times before and is a sure bet that it will happen again in the future, that  I’d rather be safe than sorry I guess. Plus it saves my sanity from the melt downs.

"The Box"

The way this box works is the papers come into the house. The deal we have is that “most” of the papers will be thrown in the trash…i.e. homework that you’ve already done, turned in and was graded does not need to be kept. There is no need for that information anymore. “School paperwork” like PTA meeting information, certain (if not all) fund raiser information goes in right after it. If you hate me right now for throwing that stuff away then go right ahead. We get almost a different fund raiser every week. We can’t do them all and I don’t have that kind of energy to manage all that stuff anyway. Drives me CRAZY! We pick ONE fundraiser a year and that’s all the capacity we have. Also, in this list are any daily transmitions from school that won’t matter in a week or two like lunch schedules, letters from the principle, other teachers and whatnot. It is not uncommon to get at least 8-10 pieces of paper come thru the front door of my house on any given school night! This is for ONE child mind you, my school ager. Imagine this times three little ones. You’re looking at, on a good night, about 11-12 pieces of paper, multiply this by five nights and that’s 60 + pieces of paper. You are now starting to grasp the issue.  Anything else is emotional fodder for the box. This includes and does not exclude the following: Art projects, crayola drawings, scribbles on half pieces of paper, paper with torn stickers half attached, holiday masks, head gear such as crowns and tiaras, anything that has sparkles on it. GOD FORBID WE THROW AWAY ANYTHING THAT SPARKLES!  All that goes into the box and on rare occasion we do get talked into saving homework. *Insert the parental eye roll*

You are starting to get a glimpse into the first hour I step into the door to my house from my day at work. Throw in the, "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! I need to tell you sumpin'," and you're starting to get the picture. Also add in mail distribution, figuring out what we are doing for dinner, Mitch vying for my attention too and trying to change clothes and somewhere in between you see into every parents first hour home who works outside of the house. We chose this life, I get it, but I don't know where I can unsubscribe to the paper inundation. If you can find me that number PLEASE let me know because it makes me crazy. You are probably wondering what happens to the boxes once they are filled to the brim with memorable school moments? The box lovingly resides in our storage room, AKA "The black hole," until at some date far far into the future when we will go through it and figure out if we are keeping it longer or decide to have it slip into the landfill and meet it's eventual demise. This years box sits in the dining room, on the floor, next to the cat food and our kitchen table. A visual testament that we care about our children's memories and that we try everyday to be good parents. Like the sign says, "Don't mind the mess, our children are making memories."