Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Firstborn Declutters

While Firstborn child was home last week, he went through the closet of the spare room where all the detritus of his life is stored.
"Like mother, like son" I know you are thinking.
But Oh!....you would be wrong.

You know what detritus is, don't you?.....all the stuff your kid leaves behind when he/she moves out for good.
Every parent who has grown kids  has a house full of this at some point in the life cycle.  Depending on your kid, the amount and how long it sits in your house can vary greatly.

Firstborn did a great job with this decluttering and now only has a couple of articles of clothing, a couple of framed things from wrestling and high school and 2 boxes of "mementoes" stored in that closet.  He emptied the dresser and left a huge box of books and movies to take to Salvation Army or pitch.  I checked on Amazon about listing some of these things and selling back the textbooks to them.  The textbooks are not current editions so worthless basically and I'll be throwing those out(or using them for fire starters out back in the camp fire ring).  I know.....I am committing a sacrilege burning books.....lol

Only 3 items were worth the time/effort to list on Amazon so I've done that and the rest I'll send off to SA(a few I'll read first however).

Firstborn also left a bag of "garbage" in the spare room for us to add to our supply on Garbage Night.
But first, I went through the "garbage".
I did that because Firstborn has a penchant for throwing out perfectly useful and good items.......grrrrr

Of the items we found in that bag of "garbage" were.....
* 2 partial rolls of duct tape(Hubs about had a hissy fit over this! lol)
* a pair of hiking boot leather shoelaces still in the packaging
* an armband for a Zune mp3 player(hey, somebody else can use this)
* a Birthday badge for a 21 yr. old(with a spinner to see what you should buy them to drink at the bar)
* a brand new t-shirt I had bought him for Christmas with the tags still on it!

There were a few other things he deemed "garbage" too.....

 
A set of keys.  One key was from the totaled Toyota but I emailed  him to check on the other keys and they are safe to throw out.
With his mindset of throwing out perfectly good stuff, I thought I'd better ask...


A gargoyle and a bobblehead bassett hound figurine.  These were birthday gifts at some point and are acceptable to send to SA.

The Lord of the Rings Hallmark ornament(unused and still in the box!)was a gift again from me at Christmas.  I have an entire cardboard box of Xmas ornaments I have collected for each of my children tucked away for when they set up their own households.  Makes me rethink collecting these ornies for them when I see him toss one away like this.
My firstborn doesn't seem to have one sentimental bone in his body.
More's the pity....

And then I came across this......


Obviously a handmade/handpainted gift one of his friends made for him.  Now tell me, how could one just trash something like this with such a heartfelt, personal sentiment on it??  ;-)

Thanks to Firstborn's efforts, I am one baby step closer now to getting this house cleared out.
I think I am going to need a shovel & a roll off container though when it comes time to get the youngest child's crap outta here!



Sluggy

7 comments:

  1. When I saw the title, I panicked for you. I thought, "oh God that poor woman!"
    When I saw the asshole glass, I laughed and laughed. I really did. I think you should regift it to him for Christmas.
    I'll be laughing over this one all day.

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  2. Oh lordie do I need to declutter! Send your son over, maybe he can help!!! I'm sure there are gagoyles, dogs, asshole glasses, you name it, in the 1550 sq. ft. I call home!!! I am thinking of putting a 20 cubic yard skip (dumpster) under my office window and just start tossing.
    Peace <3
    Jay

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  3. Ah, I remember all of those odds and ends... I probably would have been one to throw away partially used duck tape. Before I even fully moved out of my parents', the first thing I did was get rid of everything that would not be coming with me. And stuff my brother had left. I have no compassion when throwing stuff away, especially the smaller, knickknacks maybe/sort of kind of stuff.

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  4. I know how children declutter. They are rejecting childhood and moving on. However, many a girl has been thrilled that mother saved the Barbies. I kept things my children no longer wanted, and they are thrilled to see them. I imagine that the son will love the ornament in a few years, plus it is a small thing for you to store. I still think an ornament a year is a good idea for about 12 years. After that, switch to sharp, pointy objects...lol.

    Throw away duct tape? I don't blame your husband.









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    Replies
    1. That LOTR ornament is worth $8.50 (free shipping) on Ebay. Just sayin'. :)

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  5. Reminds me of helping #2 clean her room last weekend. However I was the one throwing out and she was going through the garbage. You really don't need that used cu-tip darling! I love getting rid of their crap, but how about hubbies crap, we actually moved an old trunk full of junk 11 times before he opened it, grrrr....

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  6. Always go through teenagers "trash" when they clean their room. I used to be amazed at what mine threw away.

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