Creative kids can pose the dilemma of what to keep as a treasure

There were also the necklaces made with colourful straws, pasta and various recyclables, trinket boxes shaped from paddle pop sticks and their early attempts at needlework.

Of course every one of the items my children brought home was placed, by me, in a highly-visible location for all to enjoy. And I would wear those special necklaces with pride.

As new items were brought home the majority of the previous craft pieces would be safely packed away. That's right packed away, not thrown away.

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Without a doubt I was sentimental, in awe of everything they made and I wanted them to know this. I was ever-conscious of boosting their self-esteem and confidence. So needless to say I would store the undisplayed items as 'treasures to be kept'. They would be stashed away in boxes and bags with the belief that they could be pulled out at any time for me to view them and no doubt marvel at the creativity of my children. Although the truth is they were stashed away and forgotten.

Not that I didn't appreciate the work of my children, it is just that there were plenty more creative pieces to come my way. When you multiply the multitude of pieces created by three children, that amounts to a lot of treasures stashed away as keepsakes.

Eventually a little sanity prevailed. It may have coincided with the sudden realisation that I was running out of storage space.

I will confess that the older two of my children were already in high school and my youngest was in preschool when it finally occurred to me that not everything needed to be kept forever.

The fact, that the older two never once asked to see that special artwork from their first day at preschool - or any other day for that matter - helped me gain some perspective. Furthermore, neither of them were keen to include the egg carton caterpillars as part of their teenage bedroom decor, and the pasta and straw necklaces were not once suggested as the perfect accessory for an outfit.

Meanwhile, a cleverly packaged folder featuring a selection of my youngest daughter's artworks when she graduated preschool made it clear that it was okay to be selective about what was kept for posterity and what could be discarded...or at the very least used as gift wrapping paper.

It occurred to me at about that point that displaying the work of my children when they first brought it home was the key time to boost their confidence. Replacing it with a new item from time-to-time added to that boost. But that didn't mean I needed to keep every artwork forever once it had been removed from display.

The items I kept long-term were more for my benefit - a chance to hold onto those youthful moments. It eventually occurred to me that my children weren't the slightest bit interested in what I chose to store.

With this in mind I purchased plastic sleeved folders for each of my children and slipped a selection of my favourite artworks into the sleeves for later viewing - maybe to even pass onto their children someday. The rest of the artworks were discarded.

I also kept a similar folder with some of their written work. More recently I found a couple of the stories written by my son. One was about why he loved his mum and the other was about the fun he had with his dad.

He is now 29 and these creative writing pieces from when he was about six are currently displayed on my fridge. Sorry son, but not sorry.

As far as those pasta necklaces are concerned - well they are all but a memory. The pasta tends to break off after a while, but I will never forget the love and care that went into making each and every one of those fashion pieces.

I have also more recently learnt of other great ways to showcase the creativity of young ones including framing a few artistic pieces and making them a key part of your household decor. I have seen this done and it can look great.

Wrapping school books in a child's paintings is another way for the creative works to be appreciated for a little longer. And, as previously mentioned in this column, some artworks are great options for gift wrapping.

Mumma Jak has three children and is familiar with the challenges of parenthood. She is well aware that every child is different, every day can be different and a parent's approach needs to be different according to the situation at hand. She is happy to say she fumbled through, motivated from the perfect starting point - unconditional love. The good news is that all three of her children have become normal functioning adults.

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