Kids artwork (A.K.A precious gold)

So in lieu of a comment, or perhaps more of a cry for help, from Lielanie, I have decided to share my ingenious method to my madness. And by madness, I mean that ever growing and over flowing pile of precious artwork that our kids give us.
I know we know how to deal with certain pieces of art like Christmas paintings, or those first scribbles that they make when they first learn how to hold a crayon. I'm talking about those 5 pictures of our family that your darling daughter just mass produced at the kitchen table in 5 minutes, however she feels each one is special, different, and worth holding onto forever. Or the 100th coloring page this week (and its only Tuesday) that your son has brought home from Kindergarten because he colored it especially for you.

O.k. moms (and dads?) here's just what I do. I would never say one method works for everyone. It all depends on how your child is and how your child understands. And a little bit on how well you can sell it. ;)

I keep a little bin on top of my refrigerator and when the kids give me something "less than special" we talk about for a little bit. Things like how I like their use of color, what's this little smudge over here?. what made them think of drawing it, etc. Questions to get a feel of how special they feel it is.

♥ This one my daughter wrote about why she loves me ♥

 The special at the moment pictures, or seasonal pictures get magneted to the door or fridge until it is time for it to move to the bin. (When the next masterpiece is to be displayed)

♥ My son drew me in a very colorful outfit. And with blue hair I might add ♥

♥ I love these large plastic paperclip magnets from the dollar store because
they are clear so I don't cover up any of the art ♥

Then when I have ascertained that it isn't a Mona Lisa-esque portrait, I tell them "I'm going to put it in the art bin so I can put it in a book later so when you are older we can look at it and see how much better you've gotten over the years." Hook line and sinker. Then I place it in the bin and out of sight, out of mind. 

☺ Out of sight, out of mind ☺

Here's the genius and hard part. Come Sunday night after I put the kids to bed, I go through the bin and figure out which ones to "unload" and which ones I really will keep for a binder for them to look at later. Then, because recycle bin pickup on Monday morning, I gently place the unnecessary works into the recycle bin and cart the bin to the curb. It gets picked up in the morning before they even go to the bus. All is well in the world.