Just Stuff

I have been cleaning out closets and the children’s rooms today. It was the garage last week. I’ve been selling stuff on ebay. I get to have clean closets, and a little extra money in my pocket. It sounds simple enough. As with all things that sound simple, it really isn’t.

My family is addicted to stuff. Where I like to throw things away, they like to keep everything. I blame it on my husband. He keeps everything. His parents taught him to never throw anything away. So, I guess I blame my in-laws for this attachment to inanimate objects.

They cry, these children of mine, when I unearth toys that are long forgotten, but when cleaned and listed on ebay, are remembered as a long lost treasure. I would go along with them if it were only one or two things, but everything? Somehow I don’t think so. I don’t believe my 3 year old when she cries because I am getting rid of a pair of pajama shorts she outgrew last summer and hasn’t seen since. Not every object can be a beloved object, or it starts to lose it’s meaning, and I start to lose patience.

I’m just not sentimental about stuff. There are things in our house that I like, but I could live without the vast majority of them. Is that cold-hearted? I hope not.

I wonder what it is that they are afraid of…They have never gone without anything important, and have so much extra that it overflows closets and dressers. The overflow of my family spills into all the common areas. Their own private spaces are not large enough to contain it all. It is the very definition of disgusting excess.

I have even packed stuff up to take to Goodwill, and they have never noticed what is gone, but ask them to thin out the clutter and all day isn’t long enough to fill even a single grocery sack.

So, I’ll be the cold and ruthless one. My husband is job hunting and we may have to move, and I’m not taking all this stuff with me. Deep down, I think they appreciate my efforts on their behalf. Without me they would drown in the junk they collect.

I’m sure every day they give thanks for me and my ruthless cleaning, but most of all that generally I’m too busy or tired to do it.