Nothing says “craft time” quite like the Christmas season. And craft time is in full swing at our house. If you know me at all from my personal blog, then you recognize that I’m a bit obsessive. Well, it’s just that I hate clutter. Ok, sometimes I pick up specks of dirt off my kitchen floor with my fingers. That’s normal, right? So it should be no surprise that all the half-completed craft projects around the house drive me B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
Before you start thinking I’m completely insensitive and unappreciative of these special masterpieces (I’m only somewhat insensitive), note that any item with a handprint, sweet handwritten note, etc. gets filed away in a special, never-to-be-thrown-away-so-I-can-look-at-it-when-I’m-90 box.
It’s all the other crap I can’t stand. Sometimes I just walk through my den and kitchen with a trash can. Other times, said art is treated to a short stay in a place my husband has dubbed Kid Craft Purgatory.
Kid Craft Purgatory is one of the high cabinets in our kitchen. It’s a stash center for all the crap we want to throw away but feel we should temporarily stow away in the event the kids ask about it. “Mom, where’s that picture I was working on yesterday?” Oh, honey I put it right here so it wouldn’t get lost!
That’s not the norm. Usually a week goes by, it’s forgotten, and into the trash it goes. Out of sight, out of mind. So here are a few items that vacation in Kid Craft Purgatory before reaching their final destination in the place of no return (not always limited to crafts).
1. The contents of any restaurant kid’s meal. When I was a kid we got a real toy in a Happy Meal. Now it’s pieces of paper and plastic you assemble yourself (and by “yourself,” I mean the parent) that rarely does what it’s supposed to do. If I plan ahead these go into the trash along with the food bag.
2. Birthday party favors. I know kids expect these and a lot of parents are guilted into providing them. But we really don’t need any more bouncy balls, stickers, yo-yos, pencils, erasers or any other treasures that end up scattered all over my house. Save your money and tell us thank you for coming. Kids are in it for the cake anyway.
5. Confetti and tape. Once kids learn the joys of scissors and tape, look out. Because that’s what you get – paper confetti and sheets of paper with wads of tape stuck to them. While this does provide hours of entertainment before the novelty wears off, I’d really rather have a nice hand turkey on my refrigerator.
4. My daughter’s homework. My daughter isn’t in real school yet, so needless to say she doesn’t really have homework. And if she did, I wouldn’t throw it away. Really. My son, however, does have homework, and while he’s doing his, she likes to join in the fun. So she draws her “homework” on a sheet of paper and I check it. Yeah, it’s cute. Not quite cute enough to display on my coffee table though.
5. Santa’s naughty or nice list. My son has a really active imagination and loves to recreate Santa’s lists in a “scroll”-type fashion that involves taping several sheets of paper together and drawing rows and rows of squiggly lines to represent an endless list of names. I can appreciate this type of play, but after I’ve stepped over this stream of paper about six times, I’m pretty much done.
6. Our family roll call. Once both of our kids started recognizing letters and learning to write, they became obsessed with writing the name of each family member on a sheet of paper. Over and over and over again. A nice learning tool, perhaps, but I don’t need all 18 pages hanging around.
7. Magazine subscription cards. You know, the slips of paper that fall out of the magazine in a maddening sort of way. For whatever reason my daughter LOVES these. She scribbles and puts stickers on them and then leaves them around the house for everyone to enjoy.
I could go on and on but I gotta go tackle that cabinet. It gets rather full this time of year.
What items in your home go straight to Kid Craft Purgatory?
Featured Image Photo credit: maryfrancesmain / iW / CC BY; Child Scribbling Photo Credit: mangee / iWoman / CC BY-NC-SA
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Leigh Thomas is a wife and mom of two residing in Chapin. She settled in the Columbia area after graduating from the University of South Carolina College of Journalism and Mass Communications in 2001. A communications professional by day, she is still trying to find the perfect work-home balance and runs in her spare time to stay sane. A near life-long writer, she pursues freelance writing and copyediting opportunities and recently launched her blog, Literalleigh, as a home for all the stories in her head.
