Please keep family pictures! My 82 year old brother with dementia gets the most pleasure from old family pictures from his young childhood and even those from when he was older. Aunts, uncle, grandparents, and parents all matter to him. Even those saved in a box spark joy. I'm so glad I didn't destroy my mom's pictures! I very much enjoyed your ideas. 💕
Finally you said the most important words, right near the end. “Throw them away!” Passing things on, taking pictures and scanning or filing or displaying just perpetuates the problem. I’ve just been going through the same journey with my grown children’s school items after spending years decluttering my parents “stuff” after they passed. I too, used to be very sentimental but learned, once you get rid of it, you don’t miss it. But you do, finally feel free!! Yes, it’s hard. But honestly, just throw the cards, pictures, letters and bits and pieces away! They served their purpose when they were given, that purpose is over now, live in the present. It’s ok to throw them away!🙏🏼🤗
I agree. That has been my experience also, but it is a journey for most people to get to that point. When people really can’t let things go, at least taking pictures reduces the physical clutter that is taking up so much space. Of the clients that I have followed up on, most of them have never gone back to view the photos they have taken. It’s a lot like papers in a file cabinet that we think we may need to refer to one day… I am so glad you had this breakthrough and you feel free!! It is an amazing feeling! Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your story!! 😊💛
I'm going through my bins now. I'm 55. Your words "they served their purpose" really freed me. Now I can let go of those letters from "Chris" who I don't remember but really seemed to like me 😁
I am learning to do that, little by little. It helps me to discard something by saying a word of thanks, saying "that was fun!" meaning that I am thankful for the fun memories that I had from this item, and then I am able to let the item go!
This video is such a gift to me as I face mountains of memorabilia from my life and those of my parents, grandparents, and relatives passed before I was even born. I keep repeating what you said, 'those are their memories, not yours' and it helps me feel not terrible for not keeping these items I have no personal connection to but am only keeping out of some sense of duty to the departed. I appreciate this video so much, thank you!!!!
Margaret, you just made my day! Nothing brings me more joy than to know that one of my videos helped someone! Thank you so much for writing. God bless you as you journey through the mountains! 😊
I love that thought process of “If it got burnt in a fire, Would it break your heart?” I lost my Dad at the age of 13 and started keeping everything. And if anyone gave me something, I couldn’t let if it. Now, I’m 50!! And I still have boxes that I boxed up when I was 14 moving out of my first house with my Mom and brother. You can tell by my writing, even some have sparkly nail polish labeling what’s in the boxes. I really need to start looking at these things. I did start taking pictures of the art projects of my 4 children and slowly but surely tossing the dusty projects. There may be a few that I kept, but it made it easier. This was so helpful!
Hi! I’m sorry to hear about your loss so young. I lost my dad when I was 12 and literally I’m 52 and right now I’m watching this video because I need strength to go through 18 more tubs of things. I just went through pictures from the 1980s that were moldy, and I did take pictures of them on my phone, so I guess that’s another thing to manage, but I threw the moldy physical things away. And I just went through a box of every letter and card from my freshman year of college. I don’t know what it is, but if somebody gives me something, I too have trouble throwing it away or gifting it or donating it. It was fun to just re-read college letters, but if so wasn’t worth it to keep them all these years and now my eyes itch from the mustiness. I think I feel like if it’s a card or something that somebody gives me they give me like a piece of them and maybe a part of me is afraid that they’re going to die. I can relate to what you’ve gone through.
I’m back to report that I found Valentine’s of my dad’s - his whole class - from probably 1944. And I recognize some of the names because he grew up in a small town! I knew who he was still friends with from school! One of them from his buddy I’m going to send to his wife!! This is kind of fun! And I just tossed my baptism dress and my first dress. It was sweet but musty! I took photos.
This was a very compassionate approach. It's taken me years since my mom passed to start to sort through the memorabilia, home goods, furniture, and of course photos. I inherited almost everything she owned, and it's a LOT. I'm ready to go through this process now. A sincere thank you!
Thanks for watching, LB. I am still sorting through my grandparents stuff, especially furniture. I’ve realized I can’t have it all in my home but it takes quite a bit of time to discover what I love and then to be able to let go of the things I don’t love or can’t use. It’s hard enough to declutter our homes, but this is decluttering with lots of emotion! It is a difficult process all the way around , but I know you can do it. You got this!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Thanks very much :) I'm excited to make space to showcase the items that I care about. You gave some great tips that I'll be using. Looking forward to watching more of your videos!
Ah! The memorabilia! Thankfully, I was able to go through several tubs I had saved from just one daughter. It took a few years of going through these boxes, and little by little, I let go of more and more. It really helped to give these items back to my daughter and let her decide what to do with them. For the most part, she wasn't interested in keeping much. In the end, I kept several christmas projects she made in grade school. I love and display these items every Christmas, and we all enjoy looking and laughing at these few keepsakes every Christmas.
Personally as a child/grandchild it was really stressful when my family would just handed me down everything they no longer needed, especially when I didn't have any connection to it. So if you're thinking of giving something to your kid, do keep in mind they might not want it.
Amen! And don’t give kids back gifts they made for you when they were kids. My mom did this to me and I didn’t want these items back bc they were things I made for her to have. I just think she felt guilty throwing them out.
I can see the kids point of view here very much! I have four grown sons two married and now I am blessed to have two wonderful new daughter in laws! But they have kindly informed me they are not interested in all the baby clothes (styles have changed I can see!😂🤣)or toys I have saved as my grandchildren have tons already at their own home so the toys I saved which were so very many of their toys I actually saved has not been s exciting for them as I had hoped😂😂😂 turns out, it was more for me than them! All because I am very sentimental! Now I have my great room filled with their old toys and my grandchildren play with them at my house and occasionally they are allowed to take some home!! But not often because they have plenty!! So we will still be donating eventually!! But when they come to Grammies they play in yesteryear! They enjoy it!
I started my minimalism journey in 2016. Never touched the photos, because I had Little time and energy. My sisters, my mom and me took all the photos from 1980 to 2005 and sorted and devided them. I sorted them again - Finally I have a little album with Great and thankful memories. A few Weeks ago I started deleting and sorting my own memories. I have two sons… we had about 50.000 digital Photos. I am down to about 5.000 and 500 videoclips. It is crazy but so important to do! I need More energy for this than for the things in my Home. But I am looking forward for wonderful leatheralbums and a few digital photos and funny videoclips. Thanks and Greetings from Austria 🤗
THANK YOU. Have been wrestling with this for YEARS. You have made a huge difference to my approach, just as I was beginning to despair. You don’t reference the emotional toll this can take. It really is physically and mentally exhausting and the only way to get through for me is in chunks, with the occasional 4 or 5 hour bash. I am almost at the end of the beginning of the process ! With 5 children of my own and the custodian of a childless, very sentimental aunt’s memorabilia AND 3 generations of my mother and father’s families. It is taking a very long time. I am also an historian. In the end it is by putting on my academic hat that I manage to sort through the very old - keeping any important document (very few) and photographing, scanning most of the older photographs ONLY if I knew who the image was and approximate date. Luckily (in a way) my families have been rubbish at keeping albums, so I just got boxes and boxes of tiny black and white photographs …. (?!?*!) most of which I can let go of as I have them recorded and annotated now. The more recent photographs I have distributed to my children, cousins, nieces and nephews - so none were overwhelmed by volume. Giving my children their “own memories” is a game-changer, thank you. This is the very first of (100s) all the TH-cam videos that I have searched for support and inspiration that has applied directly to me. Again - THANK YOU from 🇬🇧 the UK.
The best compliment you can give me is that this has helped you! Thank you so much for writing! You are so right about this being physically and mentally exhausting!!Decluttering anything is emotional and probably 90% of my clients end up in tears. We certainly don’t want anyone driven to tears, but it is just part of the process. What a wonderful work you are doing - you are investing into your family! Future generations will have beautiful memories without the weight that you are currently bearing! I pray for grace & strength to get you through this. You are an inspiration!!
This was INVALUABLE - thank you so much! I especially appreciate your soothing tone, and compassionate, patient, gentle spirit … and the reminder that we are all gifted differently, and we each play an important and **needed** part HIT ME, in a very good way. ✊😭 God bless you!! ♥️♥️♥️
I'm busy watching videos wondering how on earth I am ever going to get these boxes and bins of precious family photos and memories organized and it was such a relief to see that I'm not alone in this. I recently received some of the boxes that my mom had been saving over the years and now that is all over my dining room table when I combine it with the bins and boxes that I've saved, it really feels overwhelming. This video has been very helpful in helping me to plan a course of action.
So glad I came across your page. I’m 37 and have been decluttering consistently since 2018. My parents are working towards the same and my dad just said that he came across about 7,000 (exaggeration 😉) pictures the other day that had been stored away. This video will be perfect to send to them! I can’t wait to view your other videos. Thank you!
I’ve had this on my to do list for years and literally have thousands to sort through aswell as my mum saying she will be giving me all my childhood ones! 2023 I WILL DECLUTTER MY PHOTOS 🎉😂
This is my longest video and the worst sound quality (please excuse our technical issues along with the noise of the swamp cooler!) Watch the parts that pertain to you, but don’t miss the 6 tips at the end to help you manage YOUR keepsakes!! It was such a joy for me to help Carole go through all of her memorabilia to choose the things that really matter to her. It can be a difficult process but it will be so worth it! Set aside a weekend or all of your evenings during the week, put it on the calendar and commit to decluttering this area of your life! I would love to hear your thoughts, your questions, your challenges and your successes!! Find me on FB or IG to post your comments and before & after photos!! You can also write me at teresaelling@gmail.com
This was so beneficial to me, as I recently started the process to organize photos. Since my parents & grandparents are gone, and now one of my brothers, it is time to organize and enjoy the memories. God Bless you for doing this thorough, and hands on organizing video!! Thank you 🙏
Hi Karen! While it can be difficult to go through our loved ones things, you are right about enjoying the memories that come up. Photographs really are amazing. Thank you so much for watching and for commenting. God bless you in your organizing journey. 😊
Oh my goodness! What a monumental task! I get it... I don't have a quarter of that much stuff, but I'm still overwhelmed by it. Sentimental stuff is so hard... I am looking back at photos from my childhood (I'm in my 40s) and there are a lot of photos of people I can't even identify anymore... no idea who they are...or people I haven't spoken to in decades... and I still have trouble throwing them out. You two did great!
Thanks! You are so kind! It is tough…I hope you make lots of progress in your project. Let me know how it’s going or if you have any areas where you’re stuck. 😊💛
An excellent video! Greetings from a sister in Christ who is also very sentimental! You gave some very good tips! I've pared down my keepsakes over the years to the point where they don't take up much room, and for now they're okay like that, for me. But more than once I've told my daughter that when I'm gone she should feel free to throw away things, unless she WANTS to keep them.
Well, at least you know you are not alone!! Great work managing your keepsakes and releasing your daughter. I think sometimes it’s hard because we don’t feel released by parents and grandparents and we are afraid of disrespecting them in someway if we get rid of something that belonged to them. Thanks for sharing that wisdom and thanks for watching!! 😊
This is insightful. I’ve been struggling in sorting out memorabilia of my family. I’m the only person who actually wants to organize this things. Especially now that my father recently passed it is hard to determine which ones to keep or throw away.
Hi Michael! I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your father. 😢 It’s definitely a difficult job to sort through family memories but I know you can do it!! 👍🏼
Very insightful and useful video, thank you. I've been facing this challenge and though I am quite organized, I recently realized that I need to focus on my things first instead of worrying about other people's or collective family items. Objects are easy enough to deal with, it's the thousands of pages of paper clutter that are the most draining, I appreciate the focus on these types of items here.
Yes, The paper clutter can be overwhelming. I’m so glad this was helpful. All the best to you as you tackle the projects ahead. Thanks for watching, Nick!!
I just want to say thank you, thank you! I follow a few others and I had my minilist muscles in tact; however, the photos were hardest. I had 8 bins and started a fee years back and got it to half but it was still not right. This was the best video yet on the actual nitty gritty on what to do with this stuff. I don't want to lug around bins and this has helped soo much! I'm moving again and I just wanted to lighten the load and live. ❤
Wow, Arlene, you are so inspiring! It’s one thing to get information, but it’s another to actually put it into practice. Great job!! Thank you for watching 😊
This is the BEST video on pairing down sentimental/memorabilia that I have EVER come across! Thank you for taking the time to make this video. A job well done for your friend👍🏼. I am so proud of her. I would love to help my mother with this project. 🥰
@@tiffanypaepke7777, This part is definitely not my area of expertise but I would think you could organize files on your computer in whatever makes sense to you… by the year seems the most logical. I search on TH-cam (which I would recommend) and there are so many options of WHERE to store including iCloud, gmail, external hard drive, etc. I wish I could be of more help regarding that but TH-cam is the place to find answers!! 👍🏼
Agree on all of this. It made me cry, because I know how she feels. The thought that you can have more time for the present--by getting rid of too many things--is so helpful. I'm not asking our grown kids about any pictures, though--just going to finish making albums (very pared down!) and they can decide if they want them in years to come. I think when you're older, you appreciate ancestors, and have more interest!
I love thisss! As some one who is obsessed with cleaning/organizing/decluttering and am always to asked to help organize ect. Ppls house it’s so hard to figure out a way to help ppl get rid of memorabilia they have in boxes in the garage and never look at until we go through it.
Just found your channel, and I, too, have lots of sentimental items from several generations. I (as others have commented) am our family historian and genealogist. Please try to pass on old photos or letters to other interested relatives who share your ancestor; those can contain priceless info. That being said, if you have 45 bins , and you KNOW there are definitely items of value in those, but they're dispersed throughout the bins/house/attic, and if you had to evacuate, you can't grab and take them with you BC YOUR IMPORTANT ITEMS ARE ALL SCATTERED AMONGST YOUR UNIMPORTANT ONES! Going thru the bins, and grouping all the important things together then enables you to have them accessible. Excellent. PS: when you were talking to her, the sound was distant and faint, even with the volume all the way up, plus there was a lot of background noise. Suggest having the camera closer, or getting a microphone. Thx for your tips.
Ann, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I’ll bet you are doing a wonderful job as your family’s historian!! 😊 I apologize for the sound quality! I traveled several hours to this clients home in the summer (couldn’t change equipment at that point) and we couldn’t work without the noisy swamp cooler 🥵🤪
This is exactly what I was looking for!!🤗 I seriously need to declutter my late mum and sister's things. Theyve been gone 5 and 7years so now I feel ready to get rid of the excess baggage that's been weighing me down. My mum has an overwhelming amount of papers and letters as well as research and a 4 volume autobiography in files as well as on disc. It'll take a while as I want to read through letters (from the early 50s). Also loads of rejection letters from publishing companies etc I think I just need to toss. Photo's are another thing...I dind those hard to get rid of, but you've really inspired me. Thank you! Liked and subscribed.🤩
Hi Honour and welcome to the Peaceful Home! I love your name! 💛 Thank you for your kind words. I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your family members and I am glad this video has been helpful during this time. It sounds like you are doing a great job! It appears you are able to get rid of the things that aren’t important to you or don’t bring back good memories while hanging on to the things you want to keep or look over. What a beautiful opportunity to discover things you may not have know previously, in order to help you understand your family better. 😊
This is one of the best videos ever made regarding decluttering family memorabilia. As the family "historian" who is looking to really prioritize what is kept and what is not - I come back to it again and again. IT would be amazing to have a "Follow-up" with this client and see where she is at now - have the 12 boxes been whittled down even further now? I would love to see the continuing steps in her process.
It is a great suggestion to do a follow up video. She now lives out of state so it would be difficult but not impossible. Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad the video has been helpful. 😊
Find myself tearing up over this but you are spot on! Alot of your suggestions are things I was thinking of doing as well. Gonna start on this pronto!!
We worked on this all day for two days straight and then I left and Carol continued with however much time she could spare. She said often she would just put on a movie and spent two hours decluttering a couple of photo albums. Other days she would set a timer for 15 minutes and do what she could. I know this is such a daunting task! You got this, DL! Thanks so much for watching and commenting! 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Yes! I think it's gonna take some time but i like the idea of just doing it while listening to music or putting on a video not to feel too much pressure. :) It is so daunting but I know it will be worth it not having that feeling of not being in control with so much stuff! Thank you!!
New and grateful subscriber! Thank you for this practical and realistic video. I needed help, before decluttering a closet full of 25+ years of memorabilia. Sentimental items are the hardest to filter through. Your tips were amazing and super helpful, especially about displaying vs. storing. That changed my perspective on what I truly find important (and what would I grab if there was a fire). By the way, my adult children will be getting a box of their personal memorabilia this Christmas :) A win win! Thanks again.
Haha… I love your idea for your Christmas gifts! Perfect! I’m so glad you found this video helpful. Thanks for your detailed comment. It’s very helpful for me. I am very grateful to have you as a subscriber - welcome to the Peaceful Home! 💛
I just started going through 20 file boxes of photos following my parents' death over 2 year ago. It is a huge task for me, and very emotional as well. I try and keep in mind that when I die in 20 or 25 years, having no kids, all this will be tossed anyway. But, if I can get it down to just the "gems" and put them in a couple of neat albums, perhaps my nephews family will want to keep them for future generations of our family. BTW, no digitizing here, and I'm throwing away the negatives as well. The madness stops with me :)
West Haven, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your parents. I can understand how emotional this must be for you - it sounds like you are doing a really fantastic job! I think not converting to digital and throwing away negatives is a great plan for you. 👍🏼 Thanks for watching and for commenting!
I think I’m pretty good about mementos, especially having started to pare down in middle school (in uni now). My big weakness is my art - but at least it stores flat, and I do look at it regularly and put some on my walls. I have been struggling with a few stuffed animals that were gifts, or have stories. Our house has clothes moths, so anything fabric is an extra problem, especially if we don’t use it regularly! After this video I think I might draw them, and then only keep the ones I actively use
You are doing a great job editing your possessions at such a young age. Most people wait until they are much older and are pretty overwhelmed. I am with you regarding art. My living room has tons of windows and only one wall - not enough room for art! 😂 I love your plan going forward. I’ve never heard of anyone making a drawing of favorite things (as opposed to photos) Great idea!! Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your process!
Thanks for watching, Katie! Let me know if you have specific topics you would like to see covered. Here is the link to my Organizing/Decluttering Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLLHIc9oZBZ4-u1aRSzY9AwPdHXf8HpDQM.html
What great advice you have for mementoes! I have hundreds family pictures. Back in the day, no one wrote the people who were in the pictures. I’m going through and pick out the people I can identify. I have now become the matriarch of my family (How in the world did that happen?? 😳) Thanks for the great video! I have scores of random collections, how should I deal with all that? They are on displaying my house. That’s why people tell me my house looks like a museum, I guess!
Thanks so much for watching, Kathy! I think the best advice I can give you is just to edit your collections. For example, you have 15 trophies from playing volleyball in high school. Keeping three of those - your favorites - will still remind you of your volleyball days without taking over your house. Take photos of the rest and get rid of them. Pare down to the most meaningful, one layer at a time! This means that maybe you cut 25% each year. I hope this helps. I would love to hear more about your results down the road. Feel free to email me or contact me through social media! Have a great day!! 😊💛
@@houseonahill4893 , gotcha! That is definitely a difficulty when you get antiques from parents and grandparents. I have had so many clients that probably have double the amount of furniture that a house can normally hold because of that but, at some point, they have to find new homes. These are all such personal decisions, though. No one else can tell you how to live your life and what things should leave your home. Do what brings you joy!! 💛
This popped up today, well needed - but the sound is muffled no matter what I do. I appreciate there's major decision making process about keeping, donating, tossing,, filing/using boxes, giving items to family now (not waiting)...
Hi Lucille! I apologize about the sound. I traveled several hours to Carol‘s home. Once we realized how loud her swamp cooler was, I didn’t have any choice, except to use the limited equipment I had with me. I’m glad it was still helpful. Thanks so much for watching and for commenting !!
This is really great video and you are so caring and taking so much time to help her thru. 45 boxes i would loose my mind lol. Volume is too low though.
🤣 Thanks for your kind comment! 💛 I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
My grown children don't want any of my stuff. They don't want the furniture or the tchotchkes or the china. In fact, I don't want any of my mother's stuff. When my dad died, we threw so many of his treasures out. It was heart-wrenching to do it and just exacerbated our grief. It was like throwing his life away. No one needs to go through that. I want to be merciful to my children and just leave them a couple of things that they will remember me by. I never want to put them through the horror of deciding which of my things to keep. It's not fair!
These are some great tips. I am 26 and still living at home at the moment. I have been going through our pictures and taking them out of the sticky albums and the boxes and putting them in clear plastic sleeves in notebooks. I also plan to go through and declutter as much as I can while I am doing this. In the near future we plan to go through my grandparents things. I am kind of the family historian and I really hate to throw away any pictures of them growing up or of their family. We haven't been through their house yet but my grandmother saved all of her parents pictures and my grandfather saved all of his parents pictures (His mom saved all of her parents pictures and belongings). I have no exact count on how many pictures they have but I do know that there are over 50 photo albums (not counting what is in frames and in boxes and envelopes. It is so overwhelming to think about. But again thank you for posting this video. This has truly helped me in wanting to preserve memories for future generations.
Wow! That is a lot to deal with. I’m so impressed that you’ve taken that on. I am similar in that historical items from my family are very important to me. The great thing about decluttering and organizing memorabilia is that you’ll actually get to look at it and use it rather than having boxes and boxes covered in dust in a garage somewhere! Way to go!! 👍🏼😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome HI Teresa. Hope all is well. Here is an update. I have sorted through all of my grandparents albums. There were around 62 albums in all. There are a couple of smaller ones still at their house that have never been used. I have sorted most of the school pictures, portraits and other single pictures of my Dad, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and have given them out to them. The older important family pictures I plan to scan and save them to Cd's and flash drives. I still think that there are more pictures at their house but I am not sure where all of them are. Some are in drawers still in envelopes. Some are in boxes under the bed. My grandmother's Cedar chest is there but is packed so I am thinking that there are more pictures in there as well. Also my great grandmother's Trunk is in their storage building and it is packed as well. It is still overwhelming but it will be well worth it in the long run.
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Hi Teresa. Hope you and your family are well. Wanted to give more of an update. I have went through all of my grandparents pictures. I have them in a box in my room at the moment and will try to reorganize them later. My Uncle (who is the family historian) was cleaning out some things and found some really old pictures of my grandfather and his siblings, my great grandparents, my 2nd great grandparents and some very old tintypes and photos from the 1800's. I will work on those later. I really need to work on just mine and my parents pictures. They are scattered all over the place and I really need to get them more organized.
This was a great video. I've been decluttering a lot of my own deceased parents things. At first it was very hard but now I'm at the point where I can't wait to get rid of the rest of it. I'm just having a problem with some of those gigantic wedding and photo albums made of some kind of vinyl or plastic. I want to digitize the photos and get rid of these obnoxiously large and heavy albums but don't want to just throw them in the trash. Any suggestions, please? Thank you!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting, Janie. I completely understand your hesitancy. Digitizing the photos you love the most is a great idea! What I have found to be the case, most of the time, is that if we don’t toss the photo albums, the next generation usually will. Save the things that are important to you that you want to enjoy and display in your lifetime. If you think someone from the next generation would enjoy them, pass those items on now. If no one else wants them, then you are spending the time and energy to take care of them only to see them tossed in the trash when you are gone. Multiple generations can benefit from digitize photos and can print out the ones they want to display. This usually isn’t the answer people want to hear, but I hope it is helpful! 💛
YOU are so sweet! I am just about to finish a series on organizing with kids and I would love to address trophies for you! It will be aired sometime in January. Thanks so much for watching and welcome to the Peaceful Home! 💛
Thank you for this inspirational video! Just wanted to add that as someone who inherited tons of memorabilia , photos etc… Yes! I found as I am going through I have decided to digitize most everything that has significance and letting go of a lot! I even photograph material items that I don’t have space for but have a sentimental memory …it’s fun to have them on my phone
I wish this video was louder. I had a hard time hearing it. Will have to rewatch when one of my kids get home so that I can borrow one of their wireless speakers to boost the volume.
Thanks for watching! I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
This video was incredibly informative! I’m armed with your insights and inspiration and can’t wait to start this decluttering process immediately. It’ll feel so good at the other end!
I am in a similar situation, I'm a retired homeschool Mom, whose last child has graduated, my mother-in-law and my Mom and Dad died in the last few years , and I am very sentimental! We would like to move sometime in the near future, but I have to gain control of the items that have accumulated. Pray for me!
@@teresasnamesake4784 Yes, very similar circumstances! Tackle it bit by bit… try to figure out if you work better with an hour a day or one day a week where you work all day. You can do this! 💛🙏🏼😊
I am watching and crying because I have an abundance of memorabilia of our daughter who recently passed. We are blessed to be raising her son. However, I want to be there for him, not overwhelmed with stuff. I feel I'm unable to throw anything away. You say in time my memories will change. But I will never make new memories with her. How do I know what needs to be kept... for him Also, We moved into a smaller house a few years before she passed So I really don't have room to store or display Do you have any suggestions that could help me? Thank you for this video It's been a blessing even through the tears
Hi Effie, Thanks so much for your comment. I am so deeply sorry about the loss of your daughter. I pray God comforts you and gives you all of the wisdom and grace to raise your grandson. 💛 Your question is really good and I imagine very common so I am going to make another video to address it. I will comment here once it is uploaded. Thanks again.
I downsized a couple months ago. And my husband died over 7 years ago. When I downsized my daughter moved out and she did not want me getting rid of what I had left of her father's things. One of those things is a trumpet from when he was in high school band. It's not too much stuff, maybe 6-7 gallon bins worth of stuff (I had already released a LOT more of his stuff!), but it's STILL too much so I don't know what to do. I need to empty my storage facility but I don't have room for what I have left of his stuff in my new place.. I wanted to put his stuff into my daughter's storage facility as hers is literally a few units away from mine but hers is too full. If anybody has any advice on how to handle this situation, I would greatly appreciate any and all input!
I have Vietnam cassettes that my Dad spoke on to send to my Mom before they married when he was stationed in Vietnam. I’m currently listening to them and recording them. The sound quality was going down hill, so I knew I had to save them.
As an only child, all of our families memorabilia has come to me. I also inherited all the photos, family silver, china etc. While I think I am ok letting most of this go, I always worry that at some point one of my grandkids will want to know about their family heritage and want this family stuff. I do not have the space for all of this. But its hard to just let it go.
I agree - it is hard! There is so much that I have displayed in my home that my kids/grandkids can choose from. I also have a “to be passed down to future generations” bin. As long as you have a boundary and have room to store what you save, I think it is important to have family memorabilia. Photos take up the least space, but often we just keep too much! I have a photo that I have shown my grandson - it is of his 6x great grandfather. I want my kids to have things like this if they want them, however they won’t need 50 photos of the same person, or even 10! All the best to you in your decluttering journey. Thanks for watching! 😊
As my family's historian (I'm 38 years old), I implore those of you looking to downsize - if you're decluttering OLD family photos because they don't mean anything to you personally, PLEASE either find out if someone in your extended family would like to have them, or donate them to your local historical society (or whatever location the photos came from). It's distressing to me to watch people throw out old photos after scanning them or *shudders* snapping a photo of them, because if done incorrectly, those digital photos will not last the way the real ones would, and those real photos may have clues on the borders and versos that would help someone identify them, and if they're tossed, well then there goes that. So when scanning, think like an archivist. And I can't tell you how many times I've been so excited to read a postcard, a letter, a diary, or pages and pages of memoirs written by ancestors who I never knew personally, but who were brought to life through their words. So just bear in mind that even if it means nothing to you, it could mean the world to someone in your family who is interested in learning more about the everyday lives of their ancestors.
I don’t box things up for my kids to look through. I snap a pic on my phone and send them a pic, they answer with a 👎 or 👍 on each pic. It makes the decluttering process go so much faster for all of us. What they do t want either gets donated or thrown away.
I did all of this on my own and then I did all of my mom’s. Very little was sentimental anymore when there was to much. Separated all my kids stuff and then they threw everything away. I really think getting rid of things as you are living in the here and now is the way to go. I don’t save cards or letters of any kind now. Or journals I enjoy writing in. Another question in my one room in a nursing home what would I really like to see. My kids stopped taking anything that I tried to give them.
I couldn’t agree more. When there is too much, it loses its value. I definitely think the experience of having to go through too much is what helps us be much more cautious of what we save in the future. I absolutely love that question!! Can I borrow it to use with other clients? 😂 It is definitely a wake up call when we think items are so valuable that we are saving them for our kids and they don’t want them!! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Yes use the comment because we may all end up there. My husband was a pastor 34 of our 48 years and has been on staff as a teacher for another 5. We moved most of the things 14 times. I do not know what took me so long to see the value of less. The battle was moving my mom to progressively smaller places 4 times before she died. She was so angry about getting rid of anything example 14 platters when she didn’t cook anymore. I swore I won’t leave my kids all of that. Swedish Death Cleaning book really helped.
We are downsizing and not sure about large pictures on our walls. Any suggestions on storing the photos without the frames. I see photo boxes for different size pictures. When we get to our new destination we could revisit this. All other photos will be in photo books for display.
The best option I have seen for large photo storage is an art portfolio like this: www.amazon.com/dp/B07T7N2S2B/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_WQDSK6339ZFEKZY2DG4Q?linkCode=ml2&tag=teresaellingp-20 It can hold poster board size (2’x3’) and can be stored vertically behind a dresser or horizontally under a bed. If you need extra protection, add a stiff piece or cardboard or thin plywood. I hope this answered your question. Thanks for watching! 😊
I am a saver. Regarding greeting cards. Tear the fronts off and use as post cards. Just save the handwriting. Tear off the front covers ( no writing on the back) and send to st Jude’s hospital. Children use them for,crafts. Or see if local daycare might want them. Throwing useful items away makes me I’ll.
@@laineorlow1975 Absolutely!! I actually made one for my parents for their anniversary! It is a great way to display family photos. Thanks for sharing, Laine! 😁
Do you think it's good to keep photos that only bring you joy, some stuff from my childhood has bad memories and I almost don't want to keep them, also I have pictures of my marriage with my ex husband but my sons in some, I'm unsure of what to do with these
I definitely think you have the right to keep what brings you joy! If there are photos of your sons with their dad, you could put them aside for them and later see if they want to keep them. If the memories aren’t good for them either, they may not want the photos. I would encourage you to find a counselor that can help you process these difficult things. It doesn’t mean you have to keep these photos but they shouldn’t have power over you. Maybe getting rid of them or burning them will bring closure. I pray you can receive peace in the midst of this. 😊💛
Hi Michelle! If you have a lot of photos to scan, it could be very helpful. However, one of the problems I see is people who scan everything and then almost never look back at those photos. But, it also doesn’t cost you anything it time to scan and it makes a lot of people feel more secure that they aren’t losing photos. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
I can’t say at this point what my client has chosen to do with those items. One of the things she was really focusing on was distinguishing between things that were really her daughters memories and things that were her parents memories. The tapes and letters were her own - between her and her husband - and part of the process was being able to prioritize those things above the stuff that really was not as important. These are the very things that she was making space for so that she could actually find them when she wanted to!
Her main goal was to have everything organized and saved for future generations. Copies of family photos can be easily distributed and those family members can then decide if they want to print anything out to display. What I have found with most of my clients that take this approach is that simply taking photographs allows them to let go of items. Multiple bins of photos, letters, an even larger items, like trophies, and other keepsakes just take up space on a computer or hard drive (in place of multiple bins and boxes!) Thanks for watching and for your question, Tammy!
You have way less than Carol did! You are the only one who can decide if it is too much. Thanks so much for watching and all the best to you as you sort through memories!! 😊
Thanks for watching! I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢 This is especially frustrating for me because this is still my #1 video. Apparently people were able to get through it even though the sound is so poor. I appreciate your comment very much - thanks for giving it a try 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Not if they wear a hearing aide or slightly hard of hearing. I use dual wireless lapel mics -- carry they everywhere. Bought 2 pairs, one in my travel video bag and the other in my made up studio at home.
Thanks for watching! I apologize for the sound. I did not realize the difficulties we would have with the noise from my client’s swamp cooler and I was a 3-hour drive from home and unable to get any other equipment!! I appreciate your comment! 😊
Every time my mother-in-law visited us, she brought things for us that she no longer needed. That was horror. I won't do this to my children. It's our responsibility to let things go, we can't just force it on someone else.
That must’ve been very frustrating! I agree with you. I am really trying to clear out my stuff and not put my things on my kids. Thank you for watching and thanks for sharing your wisdom! 😊
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢 You have no idea how much I wish I could go back and re-do this but the only choices were to toss the footage or air it anyway. In spite of all this I am grateful it has been a help to others and, as of now, is my most watched video. 😊
Please keep family pictures! My 82 year old brother with dementia gets the most pleasure from old family pictures from his young childhood and even those from when he was older. Aunts, uncle, grandparents, and parents all matter to him. Even those saved in a box spark joy. I'm so glad I didn't destroy my mom's pictures!
I very much enjoyed your ideas. 💕
Kathy, you bring a beautiful perspective! Thank you.
I pray you enjoy every moment with your brother! All the best to you and your family 💛
Finally you said the most important words, right near the end. “Throw them away!”
Passing things on, taking pictures and scanning or filing or displaying just perpetuates the problem. I’ve just been going through the same journey with my grown children’s school items after spending years decluttering my parents “stuff” after they passed. I too, used to be very sentimental but learned, once you get rid of it, you don’t miss it. But you do, finally feel free!! Yes, it’s hard. But honestly, just throw the cards, pictures, letters and bits and pieces away! They served their purpose when they were given, that purpose is over now, live in the present. It’s ok to throw them away!🙏🏼🤗
I agree. That has been my experience also, but it is a journey for most people to get to that point. When people really can’t let things go, at least taking pictures reduces the physical clutter that is taking up so much space. Of the clients that I have followed up on, most of them have never gone back to view the photos they have taken. It’s a lot like papers in a file cabinet that we think we may need to refer to one day…
I am so glad you had this breakthrough and you feel free!! It is an amazing feeling! Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your story!! 😊💛
Melanie I went through the same journey and came to the same end. Now is important. Also now I try much harder to not buy hardly anything.
I'm going through my bins now. I'm 55. Your words "they served their purpose" really freed me. Now I can let go of those letters from "Chris" who I don't remember but really seemed to like me 😁
I am learning to do that, little by little. It helps me to discard something by saying a word of thanks, saying "that was fun!" meaning that I am thankful for the fun memories that I had from this item, and then I am able to let the item go!
This video is such a gift to me as I face mountains of memorabilia from my life and those of my parents, grandparents, and relatives passed before I was even born. I keep repeating what you said, 'those are their memories, not yours' and it helps me feel not terrible for not keeping these items I have no personal connection to but am only keeping out of some sense of duty to the departed. I appreciate this video so much, thank you!!!!
Margaret, you just made my day! Nothing brings me more joy than to know that one of my videos helped someone! Thank you so much for writing.
God bless you as you journey through the mountains! 😊
I love that thought process of “If it got burnt in a fire, Would it break your heart?” I lost my Dad at the age of 13 and started keeping everything. And if anyone gave me something, I couldn’t let if it. Now, I’m 50!! And I still have boxes that I boxed up when I was 14 moving out of my first house with my Mom and brother. You can tell by my writing, even some have sparkly nail polish labeling what’s in the boxes. I really need to start looking at these things. I did start taking pictures of the art projects of my 4 children and slowly but surely tossing the dusty projects. There may be a few that I kept, but it made it easier. This was so helpful!
It must’ve been very difficult to lose your dad at such a young age.
Thanks so much for sharing your story. 😊
Great job on your decluttering so far!!
Hi! I’m sorry to hear about your loss so young. I lost my dad when I was 12 and literally I’m 52 and right now I’m watching this video because I need strength to go through 18 more tubs of things. I just went through pictures from the 1980s that were moldy, and I did take pictures of them on my phone, so I guess that’s another thing to manage, but I threw the moldy physical things away. And I just went through a box of every letter and card from my freshman year of college. I don’t know what it is, but if somebody gives me something, I too have trouble throwing it away or gifting it or donating it. It was fun to just re-read college letters, but if so wasn’t worth it to keep them all these years and now my eyes itch from the mustiness. I think I feel like if it’s a card or something that somebody gives me they give me like a piece of them and maybe a part of me is afraid that they’re going to die. I can relate to what you’ve gone through.
I’m back to report that I found Valentine’s of my dad’s - his whole class - from probably 1944. And I recognize some of the names because he grew up in a small town! I knew who he was still friends with from school! One of them from his buddy I’m going to send to his wife!! This is kind of fun! And I just tossed my baptism dress and my first dress. It was sweet but musty! I took photos.
This was a very compassionate approach. It's taken me years since my mom passed to start to sort through the memorabilia, home goods, furniture, and of course photos. I inherited almost everything she owned, and it's a LOT. I'm ready to go through this process now. A sincere thank you!
Thanks for watching, LB. I am still sorting through my grandparents stuff, especially furniture. I’ve realized I can’t have it all in my home but it takes quite a bit of time to discover what I love and then to be able to let go of the things I don’t love or can’t use. It’s hard enough to declutter our homes, but this is decluttering with lots of emotion! It is a difficult process all the way around , but I know you can do it. You got this!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Thanks very much :) I'm excited to make space to showcase the items that I care about. You gave some great tips that I'll be using. Looking forward to watching more of your videos!
me too
@@Dottiebayer
Thanks for watching, Ellen!
Ah! The memorabilia! Thankfully, I was able to go through several tubs I had saved from just one daughter. It took a few years of going through these boxes, and little by little, I let go of more and more. It really helped to give these items back to my daughter and let her decide what to do with them. For the most part, she wasn't interested in keeping much. In the end, I kept several christmas projects she made in grade school. I love and display these items every Christmas, and we all enjoy looking and laughing at these few keepsakes every Christmas.
Great job! I love that you are displaying your keepsakes!
Personally as a child/grandchild it was really stressful when my family would just handed me down everything they no longer needed, especially when I didn't have any connection to it. So if you're thinking of giving something to your kid, do keep in mind they might not want it.
Absolutely, Ana, I couldn’t agree more!! 👍🏼
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome this video was a great watch and I'll be using some of these tips! [currently helping my grandma move].
Amen! And don’t give kids back gifts they made for you when they were kids. My mom did this to me and I didn’t want these items back bc they were things I made for her to have. I just think she felt guilty throwing them out.
I can see the kids point of view here very much! I have four grown sons two married and now I am blessed to have two wonderful new daughter in laws! But they have kindly informed me they are not interested in all the baby clothes (styles have changed I can see!😂🤣)or toys I have saved as my grandchildren have tons already at their own home so the toys I saved which were so very many of their toys I actually saved has not been s exciting for them as I had hoped😂😂😂 turns out, it was more for me than them! All because I am very sentimental! Now I have my great room filled with their old toys and my grandchildren play with them at my house and occasionally they are allowed to take some home!! But not often because they have plenty!! So we will still be donating eventually!! But when they come to Grammies they play in yesteryear! They enjoy it!
I started my minimalism journey in 2016. Never touched the photos, because I had Little time and energy. My sisters, my mom and me took all the photos from 1980 to 2005 and sorted and devided them. I sorted them again - Finally I have a little album with Great and thankful memories. A few Weeks ago I started deleting and sorting my own memories. I have two sons… we had about 50.000 digital Photos. I am down to about 5.000 and 500 videoclips. It is crazy but so important to do! I need More energy for this than for the things in my Home. But I am looking forward for wonderful leatheralbums and a few digital photos and funny videoclips. Thanks and Greetings from Austria 🤗
As far as I know you are my first viewer from Austria - welcome!!
Wow! What an amazing job you are doing - keep up the good work!! 💛
THANK YOU. Have been wrestling with this for YEARS. You have made a huge difference to my approach, just as I was beginning to despair.
You don’t reference the emotional toll this can take. It really is physically and mentally exhausting and the only way to get through for me is in chunks, with the occasional 4 or 5 hour bash. I am almost at the end of the beginning of the process !
With 5 children of my own and the custodian of a childless, very sentimental aunt’s memorabilia AND 3 generations of my mother and father’s families. It is taking a very long time.
I am also an historian. In the end it is by putting on my academic hat that I manage to sort through the very old - keeping any important document (very few) and photographing, scanning most of the older photographs ONLY if I knew who the image was and approximate date. Luckily (in a way) my families have been rubbish at keeping albums, so I just got boxes and boxes of tiny black and white photographs …. (?!?*!) most of which I can let go of as I have them recorded and annotated now.
The more recent photographs I have distributed to my children, cousins, nieces and nephews - so none were overwhelmed by volume.
Giving my children their “own memories” is a game-changer, thank you.
This is the very first of (100s) all the TH-cam videos that I have searched for support and inspiration that has applied directly to me. Again - THANK YOU from 🇬🇧 the UK.
The best compliment you can give me is that this has helped you! Thank you so much for writing!
You are so right about this being physically and mentally exhausting!!Decluttering anything is emotional and probably 90% of my clients end up in tears. We certainly don’t want anyone driven to tears, but it is just part of the process.
What a wonderful work you are doing - you are investing into your family! Future generations will have beautiful memories without the weight that you are currently bearing! I pray for grace & strength to get you through this.
You are an inspiration!!
This was INVALUABLE - thank you so much! I especially appreciate your soothing tone, and compassionate, patient, gentle spirit … and the reminder that we are all gifted differently, and we each play an important and **needed** part HIT ME, in a very good way. ✊😭
God bless you!! ♥️♥️♥️
I am overwhelmed by your kind and detailed comment - thank you!!
I am so glad this was helpful.
Thanks for watching!! 😊💛
I'm busy watching videos wondering how on earth I am ever going to get these boxes and bins of precious family photos and memories organized and it was such a relief to see that I'm not alone in this. I recently received some of the boxes that my mom had been saving over the years and now that is all over my dining room table when I combine it with the bins and boxes that I've saved, it really feels overwhelming. This video has been very helpful in helping me to plan a course of action.
@@goofygirl1311
I am so happy to hear this was helpful.
You got this!! 👍🏼
Thanks so much for watching and for commenting. 😊
So glad I came across your page. I’m 37 and have been decluttering consistently since 2018. My parents are working towards the same and my dad just said that he came across about 7,000 (exaggeration 😉) pictures the other day that had been stored away. This video will be perfect to send to them! I can’t wait to view your other videos. Thank you!
Wow! That’s a lot of photos! 🤣
It’s definitely one of the toughest things to declutter!!
So glad to have you here on my channel! 😊
I’ve had this on my to do list for years and literally have thousands to sort through aswell as my mum saying she will be giving me all my childhood ones!
2023 I WILL DECLUTTER MY PHOTOS 🎉😂
This is my longest video and the worst sound quality (please excuse our technical issues along with the noise of the swamp cooler!) Watch the parts that pertain to you, but don’t miss the 6 tips at the end to help you manage YOUR keepsakes!!
It was such a joy for me to help Carole go through all of her memorabilia to choose the things that really matter to her. It can be a difficult process but it will be so worth it! Set aside a weekend or all of your evenings during the week, put it on the calendar and commit to decluttering this area of your life! I would love to hear your thoughts, your questions, your challenges and your successes!!
Find me on FB or IG to post your comments and before & after photos!!
You can also write me at teresaelling@gmail.com
This was so beneficial to me, as I recently started the process to organize photos. Since my parents & grandparents are gone, and now one of my brothers, it is time to organize and enjoy the memories. God Bless you for doing this thorough, and hands on organizing video!! Thank you 🙏
Hi Karen!
While it can be difficult to go through our loved ones things, you are right about enjoying the memories that come up. Photographs really are amazing. Thank you so much for watching and for commenting. God bless you in your organizing journey. 😊
This was one of the best and most helpful memorablilia videos I have come across. It was practical and addressed exactly what I needed. Thank you!
Wow! What an amazing compliment. Thank you.
I am so glad it was helpful! 😊
Oh my goodness! What a monumental task! I get it... I don't have a quarter of that much stuff, but I'm still overwhelmed by it. Sentimental stuff is so hard... I am looking back at photos from my childhood (I'm in my 40s) and there are a lot of photos of people I can't even identify anymore... no idea who they are...or people I haven't spoken to in decades... and I still have trouble throwing them out. You two did great!
Thanks! You are so kind!
It is tough…I hope you make lots of progress in your project. Let me know how it’s going or if you have any areas where you’re stuck. 😊💛
An excellent video! Greetings from a sister in Christ who is also very sentimental! You gave some very good tips! I've pared down my keepsakes over the years to the point where they don't take up much room, and for now they're okay like that, for me. But more than once I've told my daughter that when I'm gone she should feel free to throw away things, unless she WANTS to keep them.
Well, at least you know you are not alone!! Great work managing your keepsakes and releasing your daughter. I think sometimes it’s hard because we don’t feel released by parents and grandparents and we are afraid of disrespecting them in someway if we get rid of something that belonged to them.
Thanks for sharing that wisdom and thanks for watching!! 😊
This is insightful. I’ve been struggling in sorting out memorabilia of my family. I’m the only person who actually wants to organize this things. Especially now that my father recently passed it is hard to determine which ones to keep or throw away.
Hi Michael!
I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your father. 😢
It’s definitely a difficult job to sort through family memories but I know you can do it!! 👍🏼
Very insightful and useful video, thank you. I've been facing this challenge and though I am quite organized, I recently realized that I need to focus on my things first instead of worrying about other people's or collective family items. Objects are easy enough to deal with, it's the thousands of pages of paper clutter that are the most draining, I appreciate the focus on these types of items here.
Yes, The paper clutter can be overwhelming. I’m so glad this was helpful. All the best to you as you tackle the projects ahead.
Thanks for watching, Nick!!
I just want to say thank you, thank you! I follow a few others and I had my minilist muscles in tact; however, the photos were hardest. I had 8 bins and started a fee years back and got it to half but it was still not right. This was the best video yet on the actual nitty gritty on what to do with this stuff. I don't want to lug around bins and this has helped soo much! I'm moving again and I just wanted to lighten the load and live. ❤
Wow, Arlene, you are so inspiring!
It’s one thing to get information, but it’s another to actually put it into practice. Great job!!
Thank you for watching 😊
This is the BEST video on pairing down sentimental/memorabilia that I have EVER come across! Thank you for taking the time to make this video. A job well done for your friend👍🏼. I am so proud of her. I would love to help my mother with this project. 🥰
Helping your mom would be such a wonderful gift!
Thanks so much for watching and for your kind comment!! 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome I was just wondering what kind of system you advise to store the photos taken of memoribilia.
@@tiffanypaepke7777,
This part is definitely not my area of expertise but I would think you could organize files on your computer in whatever makes sense to you… by the year seems the most logical.
I search on TH-cam (which I would recommend) and there are so many options of WHERE to store including iCloud, gmail, external hard drive, etc. I wish I could be of more help regarding that but TH-cam is the place to find answers!! 👍🏼
Agree on all of this. It made me cry, because I know how she feels. The thought that you can have more time for the present--by getting rid of too many things--is so helpful. I'm not asking our grown kids about any pictures, though--just going to finish making albums (very pared down!) and they can decide if they want them in years to come. I think when you're older, you appreciate ancestors, and have more interest!
I love thisss! As some one who is obsessed with cleaning/organizing/decluttering and am always to asked to help organize ect. Ppls house it’s so hard to figure out a way to help ppl get rid of memorabilia they have in boxes in the garage and never look at until we go through it.
It is such a common problem!!
I’ll bet you are a huge blessing to those who need your help! 😊
Thanks for watching!
Just found your channel, and I, too, have lots of sentimental items from several generations. I (as others have commented) am our family historian and genealogist.
Please try to pass on old photos or letters to other interested relatives who share your ancestor; those can contain priceless info.
That being said, if you have 45 bins , and you KNOW there are definitely items of value in those, but they're dispersed throughout the bins/house/attic, and if you had to evacuate, you can't grab and take them with you BC YOUR IMPORTANT ITEMS ARE ALL SCATTERED AMONGST YOUR UNIMPORTANT ONES! Going thru the bins, and grouping all the important things together then enables you to have them accessible. Excellent.
PS: when you were talking to her, the sound was distant and faint, even with the volume all the way up, plus there was a lot of background noise. Suggest having the camera closer, or getting a microphone. Thx for your tips.
Ann, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I’ll bet you are doing a wonderful job as your family’s historian!! 😊
I apologize for the sound quality! I traveled several hours to this clients home in the summer (couldn’t change equipment at that point) and we couldn’t work without the noisy swamp cooler 🥵🤪
This describes me too! I am so glad to come across this video. Planning to start today
Yay, Suzy!!
You can do this! 👍🏼
Thanks so much for watching 😊
This is totally pumping me up. I'm about to go through a photo album and get rid of exboyfriend pics😊 I'll just keep the ones I look real good in😅
Haha! Thanks for watching! 😊
This is exactly what I was looking for!!🤗 I seriously need to declutter my late mum and sister's things. Theyve been gone 5 and 7years so now I feel ready to get rid of the excess baggage that's been weighing me down. My mum has an overwhelming amount of papers and letters as well as research and a 4 volume autobiography in files as well as on disc. It'll take a while as I want to read through letters (from the early 50s). Also loads of rejection letters from publishing companies etc I think I just need to toss. Photo's are another thing...I dind those hard to get rid of, but you've really inspired me. Thank you! Liked and subscribed.🤩
Hi Honour and welcome to the Peaceful Home!
I love your name! 💛
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your family members and I am glad this video has been helpful during this time. It sounds like you are doing a great job! It appears you are able to get rid of the things that aren’t important to you or don’t bring back good memories while hanging on to the things you want to keep or look over. What a beautiful opportunity to discover things you may not have know previously, in order to help you understand your family better. 😊
This is one of the best videos ever made regarding decluttering family memorabilia. As the family "historian" who is looking to really prioritize what is kept and what is not - I come back to it again and again. IT would be amazing to have a "Follow-up" with this client and see where she is at now - have the 12 boxes been whittled down even further now? I would love to see the continuing steps in her process.
It is a great suggestion to do a follow up video. She now lives out of state so it would be difficult but not impossible. Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad the video has been helpful. 😊
Find myself tearing up over this but you are spot on! Alot of your suggestions are things I was thinking of doing as well. Gonna start on this pronto!!
We worked on this all day for two days straight and then I left and Carol continued with however much time she could spare. She said often she would just put on a movie and spent two hours decluttering a couple of photo albums. Other days she would set a timer for 15 minutes and do what she could.
I know this is such a daunting task! You got this, DL!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting! 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Yes! I think it's gonna take some time but i like the idea of just doing it while listening to music or putting on a video not to feel too much pressure. :) It is so daunting but I know it will be worth it not having that feeling of not being in control with so much stuff! Thank you!!
New and grateful subscriber! Thank you for this practical and realistic video. I needed help, before decluttering a closet full of 25+ years of memorabilia. Sentimental items are the hardest to filter through. Your tips were amazing and super helpful, especially about displaying vs. storing. That changed my perspective on what I truly find important (and what would I grab if there was a fire). By the way, my adult children will be getting a box of their personal memorabilia this Christmas :) A win win! Thanks again.
Haha… I love your idea for your Christmas gifts! Perfect!
I’m so glad you found this video helpful. Thanks for your detailed comment. It’s very helpful for me.
I am very grateful to have you as a subscriber - welcome to the Peaceful Home! 💛
I just started going through 20 file boxes of photos following my parents' death over 2 year ago. It is a huge task for me, and very emotional as well. I try and keep in mind that when I die in 20 or 25 years, having no kids, all this will be tossed anyway. But, if I can get it down to just the "gems" and put them in a couple of neat albums, perhaps my nephews family will want to keep them for future generations of our family.
BTW, no digitizing here, and I'm throwing away the negatives as well. The madness stops with me :)
West Haven, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your parents. I can understand how emotional this must be for you - it sounds like you are doing a really fantastic job! I think not converting to digital and throwing away negatives is a great plan for you. 👍🏼
Thanks for watching and for commenting!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome And, thank you for the very kind words!
I think I’m pretty good about mementos, especially having started to pare down in middle school (in uni now). My big weakness is my art - but at least it stores flat, and I do look at it regularly and put some on my walls.
I have been struggling with a few stuffed animals that were gifts, or have stories. Our house has clothes moths, so anything fabric is an extra problem, especially if we don’t use it regularly! After this video I think I might draw them, and then only keep the ones I actively use
You are doing a great job editing your possessions at such a young age. Most people wait until they are much older and are pretty overwhelmed.
I am with you regarding art. My living room has tons of windows and only one wall - not enough room for art! 😂
I love your plan going forward. I’ve never heard of anyone making a drawing of favorite things (as opposed to photos) Great idea!!
Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your process!
Great ideas here and approaches that I've not seen from other organizing experts!
Thanks so much, Deanna!! 😊
This was perfect 💖💖💖I have two boxes of my moms pictures and journals plus decluttering my own thank you
You are welcome!
Thanks for watching and commenting!! 💛
I appreciate both of you for this inspirational video. It was helpful to witness your process, and I learned a lot. Thanks again! 😊
Thanks so much, Tom!!
That is so kind of you to say! 😊
Lots of great ideas, thanks. Cant wait to see more about decluttering.
Thanks for watching, Katie! Let me know if you have specific topics you would like to see covered.
Here is the link to my Organizing/Decluttering Playlist:
th-cam.com/play/PLLHIc9oZBZ4-u1aRSzY9AwPdHXf8HpDQM.html
What great advice you have for mementoes! I have hundreds family pictures. Back in the day, no one wrote the people who were in the pictures. I’m going through and pick out the people I can identify. I have now become the matriarch of my family (How in the world did that happen?? 😳) Thanks for the great video!
I have scores of random collections, how should I deal with all that? They are on displaying my house. That’s why people tell me my house looks like a museum, I guess!
Thanks so much for watching, Kathy!
I think the best advice I can give you is just to edit your collections. For example, you have 15 trophies from playing volleyball in high school. Keeping three of those - your favorites - will still remind you of your volleyball days without taking over your house. Take photos of the rest and get rid of them. Pare down to the most meaningful, one layer at a time!
This means that maybe you cut 25% each year. I hope this helps. I would love to hear more about your results down the road. Feel free to email me or contact me through social media!
Have a great day!! 😊💛
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Unfortunately my collections are very expensive, antique items. 😢
@@houseonahill4893 , gotcha!
That is definitely a difficulty when you get antiques from parents and grandparents. I have had so many clients that probably have double the amount of furniture that a house can normally hold because of that but, at some point, they have to find new homes. These are all such personal decisions, though. No one else can tell you how to live your life and what things should leave your home. Do what brings you joy!! 💛
This popped up today, well needed - but the sound is muffled no matter what I do. I appreciate there's major decision making process about keeping, donating, tossing,, filing/using boxes, giving items to family now (not waiting)...
Hi Lucille!
I apologize about the sound. I traveled several hours to Carol‘s home. Once we realized how loud her swamp cooler was, I didn’t have any choice, except to use the limited equipment I had with me.
I’m glad it was still helpful.
Thanks so much for watching and for commenting !!
This is b one of the best videos I've seen on this topic! Thanks
Thank you, Victoria!
What a kind thing to say…
Thanks for watching!! 😊
I don’t have the memorabilia, but I do have the photographs!!! Thank you for the excellent guidelines and encouragement!
You are so welcome, Karen.
Thanks for watching!!
This is really great video and you are so caring and taking so much time to help her thru. 45 boxes i would loose my mind lol. Volume is too low though.
🤣
Thanks for your kind comment! 💛
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
My grown children don't want any of my stuff. They don't want the furniture or the tchotchkes or the china. In fact, I don't want any of my mother's stuff. When my dad died, we threw so many of his treasures out. It was heart-wrenching to do it and just exacerbated our grief. It was like throwing his life away. No one needs to go through that. I want to be merciful to my children and just leave them a couple of things that they will remember me by. I never want to put them through the horror of deciding which of my things to keep. It's not fair!
This made me feel better about my own stash 4:10
Wow!!
😂😂😂
Thanks so much for watching!
These are some great tips. I am 26 and still living at home at the moment. I have been going through our pictures and taking them out of the sticky albums and the boxes and putting them in clear plastic sleeves in notebooks. I also plan to go through and declutter as much as I can while I am doing this. In the near future we plan to go through my grandparents things. I am kind of the family historian and I really hate to throw away any pictures of them growing up or of their family. We haven't been through their house yet but my grandmother saved all of her parents pictures and my grandfather saved all of his parents pictures (His mom saved all of her parents pictures and belongings). I have no exact count on how many pictures they have but I do know that there are over 50 photo albums (not counting what is in frames and in boxes and envelopes. It is so overwhelming to think about. But again thank you for posting this video. This has truly helped me in wanting to preserve memories for future generations.
Wow! That is a lot to deal with. I’m so impressed that you’ve taken that on. I am similar in that historical items from my family are very important to me. The great thing about decluttering and organizing memorabilia is that you’ll actually get to look at it and use it rather than having boxes and boxes covered in dust in a garage somewhere!
Way to go!! 👍🏼😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome HI Teresa. Hope all is well. Here is an update. I have sorted through all of my grandparents albums. There were around 62 albums in all. There are a couple of smaller ones still at their house that have never been used. I have sorted most of the school pictures, portraits and other single pictures of my Dad, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and have given them out to them. The older important family pictures I plan to scan and save them to Cd's and flash drives. I still think that there are more pictures at their house but I am not sure where all of them are. Some are in drawers still in envelopes. Some are in boxes under the bed. My grandmother's Cedar chest is there but is packed so I am thinking that there are more pictures in there as well. Also my great grandmother's Trunk is in their storage building and it is packed as well. It is still overwhelming but it will be well worth it in the long run.
@@jacoblawrence6580
Wow, Jacob! You have been hard at work! What a gift for your family! 💛
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Hi Teresa. Hope you and your family are well. Wanted to give more of an update. I have went through all of my grandparents pictures. I have them in a box in my room at the moment and will try to reorganize them later. My Uncle (who is the family historian) was cleaning out some things and found some really old pictures of my grandfather and his siblings, my great grandparents, my 2nd great grandparents and some very old tintypes and photos from the 1800's. I will work on those later. I really need to work on just mine and my parents pictures. They are scattered all over the place and I really need to get them more organized.
@@jacoblawrence6580, wow, what treasures your uncle has found!
Great job continuing in your sorting and organizing! Thanks for the update!! 😁
Excellent Video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Thank you
😁💛
This was a great video. I've been decluttering a lot of my own deceased parents things. At first it was very hard but now I'm at the point where I can't wait to get rid of the rest of it. I'm just having a problem with some of those gigantic wedding and photo albums made of some kind of vinyl or plastic. I want to digitize the photos and get rid of these obnoxiously large and heavy albums but don't want to just throw them in the trash. Any suggestions, please? Thank you!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting, Janie.
I completely understand your hesitancy. Digitizing the photos you love the most is a great idea!
What I have found to be the case, most of the time, is that if we don’t toss the photo albums, the next generation usually will.
Save the things that are important to you that you want to enjoy and display in your lifetime. If you think someone from the next generation would enjoy them, pass those items on now.
If no one else wants them, then you are spending the time and energy to take care of them only to see them tossed in the trash when you are gone. Multiple generations can benefit from digitize photos and can print out the ones they want to display.
This usually isn’t the answer people want to hear, but I hope it is helpful!
💛
Oh your friend is so me , this is so timely and helpful ! Three generations of sentimental items. thank you!
I am so glad it is helpful!
Blessings on your decluttering journey!!
Very helpful. It’s also nice to see other people with tons of memorabilia.
Haha - yes! You are not alone!
Thanks for watching and blessings to you on your journey!
I want to be like you! So sweet and doing such wonderful work! New sub here! Trying to figure out what to do with my kid’s trophies.
YOU are so sweet!
I am just about to finish a series on organizing with kids and I would love to address trophies for you! It will be aired sometime in January.
Thanks so much for watching and welcome to the Peaceful Home! 💛
Thank you for this inspirational video! Just wanted to add that as someone who inherited tons of memorabilia , photos etc… Yes! I found as I am going through I have decided to digitize most everything that has significance and letting go of a lot! I even photograph material items that I don’t have space for but have a sentimental memory …it’s fun to have them on my phone
Such a great plan to photograph other sentimental items as well! Thanks for sharing and thanks for watching! 😊
I wish this video was louder. I had a hard time hearing it. Will have to rewatch when one of my kids get home so that I can borrow one of their wireless speakers to boost the volume.
Thanks for watching!
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
This video was incredibly informative! I’m armed with your insights and inspiration and can’t wait to start this decluttering process immediately. It’ll feel so good at the other end!
WooHoo! You can do it!
Thank you for watching and for your kind comment!! 😊
I am in a similar situation, I'm a retired homeschool Mom, whose last child has graduated, my mother-in-law and my Mom and Dad died in the last few years , and I am very sentimental! We would like to move sometime in the near future, but I have to gain control of the items that have accumulated. Pray for me!
@@teresasnamesake4784
Yes, very similar circumstances! Tackle it bit by bit… try to figure out if you work better with an hour a day or one day a week where you work all day. You can do this! 💛🙏🏼😊
Great advice
Thanks, Lori! I appreciate you watching!!
I am watching and crying because I have an abundance of memorabilia of our daughter who recently passed.
We are blessed to be raising her son.
However, I want to be there for him, not overwhelmed with stuff.
I feel I'm unable to throw anything away.
You say in time my memories will change. But I will never make new memories with her.
How do I know what needs to be kept... for him
Also,
We moved into a smaller house a few years before she passed
So I really don't have room to store or display
Do you have any suggestions that could help me?
Thank you for this video
It's been a blessing even through the tears
Hi Effie,
Thanks so much for your comment.
I am so deeply sorry about the loss of your daughter. I pray God comforts you and gives you all of the wisdom and grace to raise your grandson. 💛
Your question is really good and I imagine very common so I am going to make another video to address it.
I will comment here once it is uploaded. Thanks again.
I downsized a couple months ago. And my husband died over 7 years ago. When I downsized my daughter moved out and she did not want me getting rid of what I had left of her father's things. One of those things is a trumpet from when he was in high school band. It's not too much stuff, maybe 6-7 gallon bins worth of stuff (I had already released a LOT more of his stuff!), but it's STILL too much so I don't know what to do. I need to empty my storage facility but I don't have room for what I have left of his stuff in my new place.. I wanted to put his stuff into my daughter's storage facility as hers is literally a few units away from mine but hers is too full. If anybody has any advice on how to handle this situation, I would greatly appreciate any and all input!
I have Vietnam cassettes that my Dad spoke on to send to my Mom before they married when he was stationed in Vietnam. I’m currently listening to them and recording them. The sound quality was going down hill, so I knew I had to save them.
What a treasure! My Dad was in Vietnam as well.
Thanks for sharing 💛
As an only child, all of our families memorabilia has come to me. I also inherited all the photos, family silver, china etc. While I think I am ok letting most of this go, I always worry that at some point one of my grandkids will want to know about their family heritage and want this family stuff. I do not have the space for all of this. But its hard to just let it go.
I agree - it is hard!
There is so much that I have displayed in my home that my kids/grandkids can choose from. I also have a “to be passed down to future generations” bin. As long as you have a boundary and have room to store what you save, I think it is important to have family memorabilia. Photos take up the least space, but often we just keep too much! I have a photo that I have shown my grandson - it is of his 6x great grandfather. I want my kids to have things like this if they want them, however they won’t need 50 photos of the same person, or even 10!
All the best to you in your decluttering journey. Thanks for watching! 😊
Thanks
You are so welcome, Crystal!
Thanks for watching!
As my family's historian (I'm 38 years old), I implore those of you looking to downsize - if you're decluttering OLD family photos because they don't mean anything to you personally, PLEASE either find out if someone in your extended family would like to have them, or donate them to your local historical society (or whatever location the photos came from). It's distressing to me to watch people throw out old photos after scanning them or *shudders* snapping a photo of them, because if done incorrectly, those digital photos will not last the way the real ones would, and those real photos may have clues on the borders and versos that would help someone identify them, and if they're tossed, well then there goes that. So when scanning, think like an archivist. And I can't tell you how many times I've been so excited to read a postcard, a letter, a diary, or pages and pages of memoirs written by ancestors who I never knew personally, but who were brought to life through their words. So just bear in mind that even if it means nothing to you, it could mean the world to someone in your family who is interested in learning more about the everyday lives of their ancestors.
Thank you for your excellent and thoughtful advice!! 😊
I don’t box things up for my kids to look through. I snap a pic on my phone and send them a pic, they answer with a 👎 or 👍 on each pic. It makes the decluttering process go so much faster for all of us. What they do t want either gets donated or thrown away.
That is a brilliant idea!! Love it!
Thanks so much for watching and for sharing 😊
I did all of this on my own and then I did all of my mom’s. Very little was sentimental anymore when there was to much. Separated all my kids stuff and then they threw everything away. I really think getting rid of things as you are living in the here and now is the way to go. I don’t save cards or letters of any kind now. Or journals I enjoy writing in. Another question in my one room in a nursing home what would I really like to see.
My kids stopped taking anything that I tried to give them.
I couldn’t agree more. When there is too much, it loses its value. I definitely think the experience of having to go through too much is what helps us be much more cautious of what we save in the future. I absolutely love that question!! Can I borrow it to use with other clients? 😂
It is definitely a wake up call when we think items are so valuable that we are saving them for our kids and they don’t want them!!
Thanks for watching and commenting!!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Yes use the comment because we may all end up there. My husband was a pastor 34 of our 48 years and has been on staff as a teacher for another 5. We moved most of the things 14 times. I do not know what took me so long to see the value of less. The battle was moving my mom to progressively smaller places 4 times before she died. She was so angry about getting rid of anything example 14 platters when she didn’t cook anymore. I swore I won’t leave my kids all of that. Swedish Death Cleaning book really helped.
@@denisecarter5117 I have heard so much about that book. I will have to read it!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome it is good and life changing and one subject is a little risqué. Skip over.
Could the little footprints be made into stepping stones for a garden?
Ohhh… what a sweet idea!
Great thinking 😊
We are downsizing and not sure about large pictures on our walls. Any suggestions on storing the photos without the frames. I see photo boxes for different size pictures. When we get to our new destination we could revisit this. All other photos will be in photo books for display.
The best option I have seen for large photo storage is an art portfolio like this:
www.amazon.com/dp/B07T7N2S2B/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_WQDSK6339ZFEKZY2DG4Q?linkCode=ml2&tag=teresaellingp-20
It can hold poster board size (2’x3’) and can be stored vertically behind a dresser or horizontally under a bed. If you need extra protection, add a stiff piece or cardboard or thin plywood.
I hope this answered your question.
Thanks for watching! 😊
Thank you for the information.
@@clipperchick1553 of course! Did I answer your question? I was hoping that I was understanding you correctly but if not, please let me know! 😊
I am a saver. Regarding greeting cards. Tear the fronts off and use as post cards. Just save the handwriting. Tear off the front covers ( no writing on the back) and send to st Jude’s hospital. Children use them for,crafts. Or see if local daycare might want them. Throwing useful items away makes me I’ll.
Those are fantastic ideas, Linda!!
Thanks so much for sharing. 😁
You can make a photo quilt and hang on your wall.
@@laineorlow1975
Absolutely!! I actually made one for my parents for their anniversary!
It is a great way to display family photos. Thanks for sharing, Laine! 😁
Do you think it's good to keep photos that only bring you joy, some stuff from my childhood has bad memories and I almost don't want to keep them, also I have pictures of my marriage with my ex husband but my sons in some, I'm unsure of what to do with these
I definitely think you have the right to keep what brings you joy!
If there are photos of your sons with their dad, you could put them aside for them and later see if they want to keep them. If the memories aren’t good for them either, they may not want the photos. I would encourage you to find a counselor that can help you process these difficult things. It doesn’t mean you have to keep these photos but they shouldn’t have power over you. Maybe getting rid of them or burning them will bring closure. I pray you can receive peace in the midst of this. 😊💛
Do you recommend a photo scanner?
Hi Michelle!
If you have a lot of photos to scan, it could be very helpful. However, one of the problems I see is people who scan everything and then almost never look back at those photos.
But, it also doesn’t cost you anything it time to scan and it makes a lot of people feel more secure that they aren’t losing photos. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Did the tapes and letters go? If so, what was the reasoning to chuck rather than keep?
I can’t say at this point what my client has chosen to do with those items. One of the things she was really focusing on was distinguishing between things that were really her daughters memories and things that were her parents memories. The tapes and letters were her own - between her and her husband - and part of the process was being able to prioritize those things above the stuff that really was not as important. These are the very things that she was making space for so that she could actually find them when she wanted to!
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome thanks for that 😊
@@RockDove5212 Sure! Thanks for watching!
Omg I have my hand print in plaster, I was 5 currently 52😳
Haha - that is awesome!!
Keepsakes are so wonderful when they don’t overwhelm us… 💛
Kingdom?
What did your client do with all the photos and scans of memorabilia?
Her main goal was to have everything organized and saved for future generations. Copies of family photos can be easily distributed and those family members can then decide if they want to print anything out to display. What I have found with most of my clients that take this approach is that simply taking photographs allows them to let go of items. Multiple bins of photos, letters, an even larger items, like trophies, and other keepsakes just take up space on a computer or hard drive (in place of multiple bins and boxes!)
Thanks for watching and for your question, Tammy!
👍🤓👍
Thanks for watching!
Wow I have 5 BOXES. I need to re-review.
You have way less than Carol did! You are the only one who can decide if it is too much.
Thanks so much for watching and all the best to you as you sort through memories!! 😊
Please increase the audio!
Thanks for watching!
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
Would have listened longer if the audio was improved.
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢 This is especially frustrating for me because this is still my #1 video. Apparently people were able to get through it even though the sound is so poor. I appreciate your comment very much - thanks for giving it a try 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome Not if they wear a hearing aide or slightly hard of hearing. I use dual wireless lapel mics -- carry they everywhere. Bought 2 pairs, one in my travel video bag and the other in my made up studio at home.
@@ceafva Good plan!! 👍🏼💛
I really enjoyed your video.But I noticed you say TOSS and not recycle.You can still recycle all that paperwork!
@@laineorlow1975
Hi Laine! Thank you so much for that important reminder! 💛💛💛
I appreciate you watching and commenting. 😊
Great advice. Please buy a microphone.
Thanks for watching!
I apologize for the sound. I did not realize the difficulties we would have with the noise from my client’s swamp cooler and I was a 3-hour drive from home and unable to get any other equipment!!
I appreciate your comment! 😊
@@teresaelling-peacefulhome such good advice. I just had trouble hearing it all. Thanks! 😁
Noooo You can’t toss the footprints!! A photo will never do them justice!!
You will be happy to know that Carol took photos to keep for herself, and passed the actual footprints on to her children! 😊
Every time my mother-in-law visited us, she brought things for us that she no longer needed. That was horror. I won't do this to my children. It's our responsibility to let things go, we can't just force it on someone else.
That must’ve been very frustrating!
I agree with you. I am really trying to clear out my stuff and not put my things on my kids.
Thank you for watching and thanks for sharing your wisdom! 😊
I can't hear it... perhaps buy a MICROPHONE!
I apologize for the sound - I traveled over 3 hours to Carole’s and when we realized how loud the A/C was, I would have changed equipment, but I didn’t have any other options with me. 😢
You have no idea how much I wish I could go back and re-do this but the only choices were to toss the footage or air it anyway. In spite of all this I am grateful it has been a help to others and, as of now, is my most watched video. 😊