…well that’s what it is like waiting for my son to get around to clearing out the unwanted clothes from his closet. So today while he was out of town I pulled out everything I haven’t seen him wear in a long time and put it on our portable clothes hanger. When he gets home he can take five minutes to decide what stays and what goes and put me out of my misery.
Decluttering your own stuff is one thing, waiting patiently for someone who doesn’t give a hoot to do their part in this process is quite another. Sometimes one just has to expedite things a little bit. It’s not all bad though every now and again he will clear out a certain area of his room but it is usually only when he can’t fit something else he has accumulated. At least he isn’t just stashing things under his bed like I used to do at his age. Boy have I come a long way since then and that gives me hope.
Needless to say my only advice here is that if there is someone in your household that is not motivated to declutter make it as easy as possible for them to achieve an end result. It will be less painful for all involved. I will let you know on Monday how this worked out.
ITEM 227 OF 365 LESS THINGS
I did manage to make an executive decision on these holey socks though which are now at the bottom of the garbage bin. I just wish someone could explain why these have accumulated at the bottom of his sock drawer when his trash can is right next to it.
Wow! Those ARE some holey socks.
Hi Cindy,
yes, the sad part is the hole are right through the sides of his skate shoes as well.
Makes sense. I’ve seen pictures of some of those shoes.
Maybe he was planning on darning them? :~)
Hi Rebecca,
welcome to 356lessthings comments. You are a funny one aren’t you. I think I can say with all certainty that he never had any intention of darning those socks. Just to be sure I will ask him when he gets home and send you his response word for word unless I have to clean it up a bit. lol!
Males are just a different breed. Recently my husband pulled a t-shirt out of his dresser and put it on. He wore it for about 10 minutes before declaring it “the most uncomfortable t-shirt ever.” I grabbed it and headed for the donate bag, but had to relinquish it when he insisted, “Don’t get rid of it! I’ll wear it sometime.” Seriously man, if its “the most uncomfortable t-shirt ever,” when are you going to wear it? And why would you? Sigh.
Hi Donna,
you should have grabed a box of matches before he had a chance to take it back. He has to sleep sometime. lol!
So many people I know just keep their adult kids’ stuff at home in bedrooms or the garage. I took a different approach. I told the kids, “I’m not your storage unit. Take it all with you!” Recently I found some videos owned by various offspring. Last week when I saw two of them, I took a box of videos and a box of children’s books and told them to claim what they wanted. The rest is going bye-bye.
Hi Willow,
good for you. That is what I plan on doing once my kids are settled properly outside of my home. One is still here and the other is in limbo in a way at the moment.
Just went through my daughter’s memory box (without her knowledge) and tossed 99% of her birthday cards. Ten years’ worth! I was keeping them for her, the way my mum kept mine. A waste of space. I don’t even think she knew they were in there. I just kept the ones that were from her grandparents (now dead) and personalised ones from us and her best friend.
Hi Loretta,
there are birthday cards and there are birthday cards. My husband and I have a small collection that the kids made or chose for us very carefully and the things they write in them are worth preserving to. Others are just the typical “best wishes for a wonderful birthday” kind that can go straight in the bin after a week.
Back when I was a hard-working single mom, I didn’t stay on top of my son’s wardrobe very often, usually just helping him with a cleanout right before back-to-school shopping. The last two years of high school, though, he shopped on his own and I didn’t worry about it again until he was getting ready for college. Lo and behold, we counted something like 30 pairs of totally shot athletic socks wadded up in a bottom drawer. Time flew by, I guess :} We laughed our butts off about that one.
Hi Meg,
lets face it laughter is the best medicine so no harm done. One thing about my son his personal space is limited to his bedroom so in order to make room for stuff other stuff has to go. Life is constantly changing for the young ones so their stuff constantly changes along with them.
Ugh, boys. LOL!
Never mind boys Nikki, girls can be worse.