Trophy Board

“I am a collect a manic”, there I’ve said it.

Yes I like to keep things just in case they might be needed again, or they hold a treasured memory that is just too important to say goodbye to. Please don’t get me wrong, my house isn’t a tip, but every shelf, ledge or available space will hold something important.

Things have got so bad that we don’t have any space in either the loft or garage now. I know that somewhere in the loft is my son’s first outfit that we ever bought him – in fact I’m sure his first year of clothes are up there as well, along with his pram, rocking chair and crib all the cuddly toys that the children have grown out of, plus piles and piles of photo’s that have been taken over the last twenty years, Christmas cards, Birthday cards and Anniversary cards they must date back as far as the 1980’s.  But I just can’t get rid of them and alongside all of that I have my memories of the last 20 years with my husband and our three children, stuffed into boxes, envelopes and bags. – I dread to think what we have in the garage.

So you can imagine how my eyes lit up when reading my “How to Do Everything and Be Happy” Peter suggested a Trophy Board – why hadn’t I thought about that.  What a brilliant idea, another place to be able to put up those little things that means everything to me.  My husband groaned and placed his head in his hands at the thought that there might be another place I could keep more clutter.  But I stressed that it had to be good, as it was recommended in my new bible, but my husband couldn’t see how this could be the case.

After a little negotiation and deal breaking we came up with a master plan.

I would put all my treasures up on the “Trophy Board” for this year, and as suggested in the book, I would on the 1^st Jan 2012 place all beloved items into a large envelope which would then be kept safe in the loft. (This must cause you a problem I hear you shout, the loft is already full).  Well, I’ve agreed that I will keep only 20 envelopes one for each year that we have been together and place the most treasured and loved items into it.  Once full anything else will be tossed aside ready for the recycling bin, placed on e-bay or sent off to a charity shop. (I wonder what the largest envelope I could buy is.)

Having just hung up my trophy board, you would think it would be empty, but I have set myself and the children a most enjoyable task, to find as many things from around the house that could go on the trophy board. This isn’t something to be done straight away, but over the next coming months so by the time 31^st December is upon us; my trophy board will be full and complete.

So each day, one of the children produces some little treasure they have found and we take great pride in placing it on the trophy broad for everyone to look at and enjoy.   Not only is this helping to clear the ledges etc., but we are able to sit and talk about what we did to get said treasures, only this morning as I was leaving the house, I stumbled upon two new items, a postcard that my little girl received from her best friend when they were on holiday in the summer and a card of congratulations that I received in September on completing the Adidas Women’s 5k run.

I’m enjoying filling my trophy board and my husband is looking forward to the prospects of an almost empty loft – finding the Christmas decorations should be much easier from now on.

Cleaning the loft and the garage are on my “Wish List” – but that is another story.