Sorting through some of my sentimental things

I love decluttering, and it seems to be a constant process in this house. There are always clothes that have been outgrown, toys that are no longer played with, old and outdated technology, as well as all the new things that come in. I also like going back through the things that I once thought were important to keep, and deciding whether I really need to keep them.

Recently I pulled out my old school work folders. Alongside the important exam and music certificates I've also kept yearbooks and programmes from concerts that I took part in and prize giving evenings. But I had also stored quite a few long essays from school and university that I decided it was time to part with. If I can't be bothered to read through them when I'm reminiscing, then when will I read through them? I only kept a couple of favourites that I remembered writing on subjects that interested me.

I'm quite glad that I've kept on top of old school work over the years, as it would have been overwhelming otherwise. It made me think about how much school work I keep from my own children - probably far too much that they've forgotten about already! I have some of my childhood drawings, but not too many, and that means that they are really special and I appreciate them when I get them out to look through. Like this picture of my brother that I drew when he was a baby, I would have been 5 or 6!

Something that I did struggle with was my old school reports. It's always fun to read the school reports of celebrities to see where they've been criticised for something that they later excel at. But I'm not sure that anyone else would be particularly interested in mine, probably not even my own children. I was a diligent student and the reports are good, but I didn't really enjoy reading back through them. Many of them I had to write a paragraph for each subject myself, and it made me cringe to read it back! So I kept my primary school report, which was excellent if I say so myself, and one from my last year at secondary school.

The next box that I need to tackle is my old diaries. I kept a detailed page a day diary for about ten years, and they are all stored in a box in the top of the wardrobe. When I was writing them, I imagined people in the future poring over them to learn all about my life. However I can't bear to look at them myself as I hate reading what I've written. I'm torn between wanting to make a big bonfire of them and thinking that I should keep them for posterity. They definitely don't spark joy as Marie Kondo would say!

What things have you kept from your childhood?