Enough with the certificates, awards and trophies

I was scrolling through Facebook and a first time dad posted a certificate his 12 hour old newborn received for passing the hearing test. I was blown away. Is this for reals, I thought to myself. A stupid piece of paper saying your newborn isn't deaf???? Does the hospital expect new parents to frame this and hang it? I mean really, isn't verbal communication enough? It was for us, all four times. I am pretty darn sure a newborn hearing screen certificate will not be hanging next to the law degree in this newborn's future office. And pretty sure he's not going to come across it when he's 35 and be so happy his parents kept it. I see it now, OH Mom, Dad look I'm not deaf, that is so cool.*shaking my head* This also reminded me of the potty training certificate someone gave my daughter at the age 2....I acted happy and excited and then threw it in the trash when nobody was looking. And no, at the age of 16, she doesn't wish I had kept it or any of her other dozen certificates she received through her school years. She knows, at the age of 16 what her accomplishments have been.
Let's get real here.... Kids now days get too many awards, certificates and trophies. Dub and T have gotten at least 6 each this year and guess what, I don't give a fuck about them. After a few weeks on the fridge, I trashed them. I am not going to save everything they bring home, even some trophies have made their way to the trash. This may seem harsh to some but I don't have the room for 1200 trophies and my kids aren't going to look back when they are grown and appreciate those pieces of paper or treasure the trophies. They will remember that their parents are proud of them and that we were at every game and there to encourage them, certificate or trophy or not.
Now the trophies, oh dear god the little dust collecting, cheap trophies! Where do I begin? How about by screaming, STOP THE MADNESS!! I get it in the early years, ages 3-6. But why does my 7-13 year old need a participation trophy? They don't! They even told me they don't. At that age they need to learn you don't get a trophy for showing up, they need to know if you work harder you will be rewarded. They need to start learning life doesn't hand you trophy just because. Could you imagine if your boss gave you a trophy every 3 months just for showing up? RIDICULOUS!
Now I'm not saying we shouldn't encourage our children and I'm not saying we shouldn't let them know they've done a great job. I'm also not saying we shouldn't let them know we are so very proud of them. What I am saying is, do we really need to hand out a certificate every time this is true? I don't think so, I think what we should do instead is spend time with them, show them love without having to give them something. Help your teen make a March Madness bracket, play word games on the ipad with your school age children. Play street ball with them, take them to the park. And tell them everyday that you love them and you are proud of them. But please don't rely on a certificate or trophy to do this for you. They'll remember these days and experiences without a trophy.....