With school winding down here, a veritable mountain of kid-related memorabilia has made its way home in backpacks and bags.

We’ve got worksheets and tests, essays and artwork. There’s beat up binders and folders, and broken crayons and dried up markers, and random school supplies coming back home after a year of hard use, and we have to decide what to do with all of it.

Luckily, my kids are old enough to help and take responsibility for most of the sorting. Things that are broken get tossed, things that can be reused get stored either in their rooms or my office till next year, and memorabilia they don’t want gets tossed in the recycling.

That still leaves a huge pile though.

And that’s not all!

The piles of memorabilia have been collecting here for a while.

There are receipts and ticket stubs. Story ideas and notes about family history. Cards and letters from friends and family near and far. In short there are piles everywhere.

I do have a system for dealing with it all. But, as with most things, if a system isn’t used, it’s not going to work.

On the other hand, if a system isn’t working, it’s not going to get used. It’s a vicious feedback loop.

Regardless, my memorabilia storage methods have to be addressed. It’s too scattered and unorganized and under utilized.

Then again, maybe I just need to pick up.

Just a small pile of memorabilia, neatened up for you.

What are your memorabilia nightmares? How about memorabilia success stories? Share what works for you and what doesn’t with everyone here. You could even post pictures in the No Excuse Scrapbooking Flickr group if you’re so inclined.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some sorting and filing to do before my memorabilia is ready for its close-up.