Do you have a packrat in your house?

[lucypevensie]

My son, who is the spitting image of his father in every way, has developed one habit of his dad's (and his grandpa and great-granda,as I think about it) that kind of has me concerned. He saves things like crazy! I was in his room recently and saw that he had saved some candy wrappers and empty containers. He will not throw away old coloring pages, or drawings, or school projects, even if they are torn, wrinkled, unglued, or totally useless.

I save a few of his things and have them neatly packed away into small boxes or put them up on display. So it's not like I go around throwing all his stuff in the garbage.

Every once in a while he'l come to me with some item - toy or article of clothing - and tell me he's ready to put it in the give-away box. This is good! But he has a hard time letting go of junk/trash.

Does anyone relate?

 

[WWJDT]

Do I ever relate! My husband was a terrible packrat and my son was getting to be like him too. My mother-in-law is and father-in-law was before he died. Boy, did he leave some stuff. He had a garage full of junk, an office full of junk and another garage full. Broken down cars, air conditioners, pinball machines. I am the queen of garage sales and donating items to charity. So it just doesn't happen around her anymore. He (DH) has kept a few things. Weird things like broken in half skateboards, boxes to toys..without the toys and a 1940's stand up radio that he wants to fix. But I bet it won't ever get fixed. And my son does the same thing. He wants to keep all the boxes his Legos come in. ???? Every craft he has ever made. I have a box that I have put some major ones in. And t-shirts because they used to be his favorite. Weird.

So YES...I understand but I've nipped it in the bud about as much as I can.

 

[HeKnowsMyName]

DH is like that. And I fear that DD is following in his footsteps. When DH is not home I continually chunk out junk that he hasn't mentioned in months. Occasionally I throw out something that he asks for later, but normally it's stuff he will never remember he even had! I just can't take the clutter! He's a neat freak too, but he does tend to accumulate junk! And I have to sneak DD's drawings in the trash or she gets insulted. Maybe the new one will take after me! LOL

 

[lucypevensie]

I guess I feel that it's not the best thing for me to sneak in and throw out stuff. I do it, but I feel like he's not learning anything good by me doing that. Except maybe that Mom is nosy and doesn't appreciate what he thinks is valuable.

 

[Christdefinesme]

Yes! My 10 year old girl is that way. She saves the popsicle sticks with the jokes on them after she eats the popsicle, every paper, etc, etc.
Well, her bed is often overflowing with junk (she has a captain's bed with shelves surrounding her). She stuffs things all around her, under pillows, under the mattress, every doll and stuffed animal she can possibly fit around her.......ugh!
We started making a rule every time we do a big clean with her, that she has to get rid of "x" number of items. She frowns, but usually, if we give her that definite number, she complies and finds things she can part with. We do the "it's this, or this" thing, and she can always choose her faves to keep, the rest either goes in the trash or is a giveaway. A lot of times she thinks of someone in particular she'd like to give things to, so that helps her get rid of it. She loves to bless people, so it helps her be able to give some things away if she knows it's gonna bless someone.

 

[sara elizabeth]

My dh is that way and now our 5yr old dd is also. I have tried throwing stuff out, but it seems like she always notices and gets sad. What has worked well now is to give her a small box for her treasures. She can keep anything she wants, but the box has to be able to close. That way, its up to her to limit what she keeps.

 

[jgonz]

I have one like that. What I've done is explain that we just plain don't have room to keep everything so he has to decide what is the most important to him. Candy wrappers and things like that, we Can't keep, because they'll draw bugs. Plus we have a "no food in your room" rule for the same reason. Once I gave him a choice and made him think about the importance of the items, he decided to keep the rock collection (in a specific box that closes so his little sister can't knock it over & hurt herself). This was a couple of years ago now, and I think his priorities are changing... the rock collection doesn't seem as important anymore, so we may end up having a new collection here soon. lol

 

[sammipher]

I think both my hubby and I can be pack rattish. Hubby has toned his down a bit and I have tried by weeding through boxes from time to time and chuncking things we have not used in months. But, we will hold on to the oddest things and the things that we have had the longest. I don't know I just keep thinking I might need that item later or it has some kind of memories tied to it...weird I know.

On another note my brother(who does not live with us) is a major pack rat. He is so bad he will pick stuff up off the side of the road that can never be fixed and keep it. He also will hold on to receipts(Even for stuff he no longer has) and old newspapers. He will also hold on to multiples of one item.

 

[snarfywarning]

We have one like that..

Her name starts with an S and ends in narfy.....

*blush*

 

[Linnis]

DH used to be like that, when we moved the first time it was a nightmere he wanted to move boxes of useless things. I know where he gets it fron, right now my MIL's spare room is packed floor to ceiling with boxes she's carted to the last 4 places she's lived and doesn't even know what's in them because she doesn't want to be without "stuff".

 

[lucypevensie]

I can't even imagine us moving to another place. There have been 4 deaths in the family since we've been married, and what everyone else wants to chuck into a dumpster DH wants to take home and "go through it"... He's gone through maybe 10 boxes. Only 30,000 more to go...(Ok I exagerated a little)

See where my son gets it?