An Expiration Date

Confession #1:  I'm afraid to throw out pictures.  Not necessarily pictures that I've taken (though I tend to keep those forever, for fear that as soon as I throw one out I'll think to myself "Don't I have a picture of that somewhere?"), but pictures that people send me - Christmas cards, pictures of their kids, birth announcements, etc.

Confession #2:  It's March and I'm still displaying all the Christmas cards that we received in December.  That's right...the Christmas cards that we received almost 3 months ago are still taped on our wall.  Ben has been asking for a few weeks if it's "about time to take them down". 

I promise that I'm not in denial about the fact that our Christmas card which included a picture of us at Lake Tahoe has long since been tossed aside by our dear friends (because they're normal).  I just feel bad throwing out pictures.  Maybe next year my friends can make it easier on me and just put a little "Please discard after January 1st" message on the backs of the pictures.

Should I save them?  Should I keep a file of Christmas card pictures?  Every year, should I add to it so that at some point we can look back at how our friends children have grown over the years?  Or, should I rip them down with abandon and not give them a second thought? 

I'm torn.  Part of me wants to have my wall back, but another part of me feels like it's disrespectful!

Don't even get me started on our refrigerator.  In addition to Jack's first pre-school picture (which is 3 years old), we're also sporting 2 years worth of Halloween pictures of our friends' kids, as well as the birth announcement of a friend's baby who is now almost a year old!

Confession #3:  I also have our extra Christmas cards from the last 3 years.  Why?  I have no idea.  I know that I'll never use them (especially because they say 2009, 2010, and 2011 on them).  But, they're pictures of me and Ben - I hate to throw them out...somehow it seems wasteful.

I think we've established that I'm insane (shocker).  Now I just need some input...what is the statue of limitations on keeping pictures and cards (yes, I also save greeting cards). 

Confession #4:  I feel bad throwing away greeting cards.  It's easier than throwing out pictures, but I still hit a mental block when it comes time to get rid of cards that someone sent me.  Let me put this into perspective.  While we were packing up our kitchen before our move last summer, I spent 10 minutes going through all the cards that we'd received in the time we'd lived in our house (which was over 2 years).  Birthday cards, anniversary cards, "just because" cards, Valentine's Day cards...we had a little pile of them in our kitchen. 

What is the expiration date on pictures?  Help!