With school out, the avalanche of school papers coming home will begin. There will always be some things that you’ll want to keep, especially if you have small children, but the vast majority probably needs to go. Just take a deep breath and start going through it now, while you’re still thinking about it. No need to find it all waiting for you once school begins again. A note of caution though, you will want to wait for the final grades to be posted before you actually toss anything, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start sorting now.

Aside from the regular cute drawings and school awards/certificates, you might also want to keep a few examples of your child’s work. This can sometimes come in handy if there’s ever a need to discuss changes in your child’s progress. Having your own file of examples to refer to can prove helpful. Anything with glitter, glue, etc. will need to be thrown away outright. However, the rest can probably be safely recycled. Make sure that none of it is special to your kid first of course, but after that you’ll be surprised at how good it can feel to let it all go. After that it’s time to enjoy the summer break.