Liz Atwood has a mess on her hands this Tween Tuesday:

You should see my house now. On second thought, no one should see my house now. This year we have taken spring cleaning to a whole new level. We are painting almost the entire house.

My idea was to start with the easiest and least cluttered rooms and methodically work my way through the house, finishing with the boys’ rooms. But somehow my plan has dissolved and we have a disaster.

The boys’ bedrooms are the worst. Here lies the collective memory of their entire lives—stuffed animals they had when they were babies, school work from the time they were in kindergarten, art projects and action figures. Where did all this stuff come from? And more importantly, where should it all go?

I have tried to avoid being the pack rat my mother was. I make regular donations to the church rummage sale and Goodwill. I try to be mindful of which school papers and art projects I save and pack away in boxes. But still the stuff accumulates. The older boy has six boxes of school work already and we haven’t hit high school.

While I don’t consider myself a packrat, I studied history in school and I dabble in family genealogy. I want to hold on to some items for posterity. But how can I decide which items are worth keeping and which items should be tossed out? What items will my children want to have when they are my age? What would their children want to see? The 13-year-old says throw it all out. The 9-year-old wants to keep it all. How do you decide?

Kate here: By the way, if you struggle with organizing your children's artwork, you might be interested in this story from our archives with ideas on how to preserve the best pieces. The photo above, showing art made into laminated placemats, went with the story.

Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun