You are either a card keeper or a card ditcher. And I am definitely a Hallmark-moment hoarder. Well, I was until my lovely German decluttering queen burst into my messy life and told me I have to reduce three eskies of cards down to three shoe boxes. I am allowed one tiny shoe box of memories per kid.
Over the years I have kept scribbles the kids have drawn, little love letters from them, every report card or kindy update, and I have certainly kept most cards they have ever received for their birthdays and other special occasions.
But instead of those eskies being places of good memories, they fill me with stress and dread at the thought of opening them, as they are so cluttered with cards.
And yes, I use eskies. I do not think my husband even knows that his chilly bins have been turned into time machines for my memories.
What are you meant to do with cards? I knew my decluttering queen would know the answer. I wanted Juli to be a tank of a woman who spoke rudely and abruptly to me as she ordered me with no mercy to clean up my messy house.
But I was shocked when the 21-year-old arrived at my door to start the very big job together to find out she is just stunning and softly spoken. Not at all the image I had in my mind.
But do not be fooled. The German traveller is a hard worker, is super practical and always has a grand plan or solution to spruce up any room.
I asked advice from friends about what they do with their cards from loved ones. Do you file/bind/box or bin them? One friend puts the cards on her table tops and then covers them in a sheet of glass. Others have them framed on walls. Many others were as confused as me, so they too have put it in the too-hard basket for now. Others take photos and keep the cards in digital form. They send those handwritten messages up to the cloud.
I still do not understand the cloud all these years later after it floated into our lives, and I am hoping one day the cloud will puff away in some strong wind gusts so I never have to understand it.
Some clever mums make scrapbooks or also have boxes to keep. But it was clear there are two camps: the sentimental or the minimalist. So I am trying to ditch any cards with generic messages, but let me tell you, it is a tough trip down memory lane that is taking a long time to finish. I am opting to keep the super special cards for now. I just do not think I could send them up to the cloud.
And please do not tell Juli but I also have 12,000 photos stored on my phone, so my cloud is probably more an angry rain cloud sagging with weight rather than white fluffy smiling cumulonimbus.
