How in the Heck Do I Organize My...Kid's Mementos

Over the last few years, I have helped a ton of parents make decisions on what is worth saving for their kids. We’ve tackled clothes, artwork, mementos, cards, teeth, locks of hair, you name it…

This last year, I also realized that I may be more sentimental than I had originally thought as I made decisions about what to hold onto for each of my kids throughout their first year of life. Yes, that first lock of baby hair was absolutely kept! On the flip side though, the vast majority of things were not. They’ve been donated to other families who can put them to good use right now, rather than collecting dust in my basement for the next 25 years until I can pass them off to my kids. And for that, I’m feeling pretty darn good.

The Baer Minimalist's Twin Baby Registry

Registering for a baby (or two, in our case) can be daunting! It is a totally different experience than registering for a wedding, because there are so many foreign items that you are told you will need, but you have NO IDEA what they are used for.

So my #1 tip is to ask a friend for help, or utilize a resource like Lucie’s List. This was the best way to get a jump start on registering for me. I consulted their guide for twins and built my registry online through BabyList. What’s even better is that I only had to pop in to Buy Buy Baby once to “test-drive” strollers - because a store like that is completely overwhelming in my opinion for any first time mom-to-be.

For the most part, I was careful about what we registered for because I don't like a lot of clutter. I also didn't want to register for a lot of items that we wouldn't use within the first six months (i.e. high chairs, sippy cups, toddler toys, winter clothes, etc.). I am thankful that we did that because we received what we truly needed right at the beginning.

We also did not know the gender of our babies until they were born, so I refrained from registering for a lot of clothes, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, teethers and books. Again, this helped us focus on essentials and gave us the chance to pick out these “fun” items once they were born. Of course, I saw tons of cute items along the way and just kept track of them on Pinterest pages dedicated to Baby Style and Baby Gifts.

12 Ways to Get a Jumpstart on Being an Organized Mom

When we found out we were expecting, I knew my organizational skills would be put to the true test. When I found out we were having twins…PHEW, game on.

So what’s a Type-A gal to do? Well, write a list of goals and things I wanted to accomplish leading up to our babes arrival. Some items were things I’d been meaning to do for years (get up to date on our annual photo books), while other came with the territory (create changing stations so that we’d never be more than a few feet from a diaper).

Below are 12 things I’m so thankful I accomplished prior to our babies arriving:

1. Find a fun way to document your pregnancy, but don’t try to do too many different things. Making moments feel special and creating traditions is something that has always been important to me, but it can be too easy to get overwhelmed with multiple ideas as we browse Pinterest and social media. Choose one type of photo to take throughout your pregnancy to document your growing bump and make a note on your calendar to take said photos on a weekly or monthly basis (or even to mark the start of each trimester).

The Baer Minimalist® Blog -- Tips, Tricks and Hacks on living a more ORGANIZED + STYLIZED Life