Keep Track of Keepsakes with Binders

Realistically, how many parents keep every little piece of information they acquire about being new parents? Every learning tool, every article, every pamphlet, and every magazine . . . you get the picture. You'd actually be surprised how many people really do this. I'm guilty. I've been keeping all the information I've been gathering since the day I learned I was pregnant with my first child in 1999. Now, seven years and three kids later, I have a multitude of information ready for the picking.

What do we do with all this information? Leave it in a pile to collect dust in the corner? Stick it in a box to get all bent-up and mutilated when sifting through trying to find that article about what foods to avoid the first year? Spend hours scouring the Internet again because you can't find the article you printed three months ago? Hardly constructive ways to keep you informed, educated and efficient. So, what's the solution?

One option, of the many that I practice to keep my hair from turning gray when looking for something, is binders. Not only will materials be stored efficiently, a handy keepsake is created as well. How is this a keepsake? It's all in the way the binder is organized.

Here are some suggestions:

1: Separate each section by month of development (i.e. one month old, two months old and so on) using tabbed dividers.

2: Use a binder wide enough to keep an entire year's worth of records, articles and other informative materials collected.

3: Decorate each tabbed divider so they are different from each other using themes for the corresponding month of development. (Scrapbook materials work well for this.)

4: Decorate the cover of the binder or use the type of binder with the plastic protector so you can slide decorated sheets of paper inside the front, back and spine.

5: Keep separate binders for specific topics information is being saved for (i.e. nutrition, safety and so on.) and decorate them accordingly.

Once all the information is compiled in an organized manner, not only will you have a handy way to access it anytime necessary, you also have a developmental keepsake of your child's first years. Sift through these binders periodically disposing of materials no longer of use to make room for newer add-ins. Or, if you choose, keep these binders as a handy tool for children you plan to have in the future, updating wherever necessary.

Previously published in Child Care Magazine 2002.