Hoarder or Sentimental Collector?

I used to think I might be a hoarder. Then I saw the A&E show Hoarders ... or was it the TLC show Hoarding: Buried Alive?  (FYI, there is even a show on Animal Planet called Confessions: Animal Hoarding, which could also be named "The Smelly Cat Lady"). Obviously, hoarding is hot, the "new black" of psychological disorders. These shows feature folks who, inside their quaint, cottage homes and average apartments, stockpile everything from newspapers, to shoes, to flat out garbage, and even cats. I once worked with a woman whose beanie baby collection got so large, she had to store them in the trailer of a semi truck.  

After watching [wincing at?] these shows, I realize that I am not a hoarder. I'm more of a collector of sentimental objects that signify a time or even someone from my past that I would like to hold on to. I can't attach sentiment to towers of newspapers or garbage. I still have my crayons from kindergarten at Beulah Elementary, my third grade poetry notebook passed between my two best friends and I (who could throw away a book that contained the line, "I wore glasses to all my classes."??),  a spool of avocado green thread that belonged to my grandma, Harry & the Henderson's movie ticket stubs, a box of origami folded letters from high school friends (btw, Krystal, I re-read some of those and now I'm mad at you again, so don't wait for me after fourth period.) 

So, yes, I do NEED that gourd ladle in the hue of jadite green that was the centerpiece on my grandma's kitchen table the spring of 1979. It's not that it "was" my grandma's, it "IS" my grandma. Well, sort of.

"Chicken at a Wedding" by my little artist, at age 5

With this in mind, imagine my inability to let go of artwork by my two little ones, who can crank out masterpieces faster than I can say "Bob Timberlake". There are stacks and stacks of paper covered with finger painted princesses, crayola cars, cut snowflakes and mermaids in marker. After holding on for them for a few years, I finally began selecting a few choice pieces for the memory box and taking digital photographs of the rest. I know I'm not the only one with this problem. What do you do with your little Dali's doodles? 

And what things do you collect passionately?