Washington woman suffocates under piles of clutter in home

Parent Cafe
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<p>What is it about the left coast? Anyway, it’s not really a funny situtation, but I am copying my kids with this, as it can only help.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.local6.com/news/5917330/detail.html[/url]”>http://www.local6.com/news/5917330/detail.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>that was really bizarre
I admit I have way more stuff than I need- and I am being ruthless thisyear- ( it helps that D will be moving out- and I am trying to identify stuff that she could use :wink: )
I am one of those visual people who doesn’t know where anything is unless I can see it- but paring down feels good- I am even getting rid of some of my books! ( I have to, my bookshelves are stuffed and stuff is stacked ontop and I don’t have any room for any more!)</p>

3

<p>OMG, I thought this was a tongue-in-cheek title about how much paper accumulates with college and financial aid applications. This strengthens my resolve to clear clutter from my home!</p>

4

<p>Wow. That’s just awful, isn’t it? Having read that, I feel even better about all the tossing and cleaning I did over Christmas break. It was like spring cleaning around my house! I’m happy, but a bit embarrassed, to say I finally cleaned out the garage and can actually park two cars in it! If you had seen my garage before, you would know what an accomplishment that is.</p>

5

<p>We have never…in 25 years of homeowning…parked two cars in a two-car garage. You are to be commended.</p>

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<p>In another strange-but-true tale, there was a story on the news today about a person who was burning leaves outside his house. Somehow he came across a mouse and tossed it (live) onto the burning pile of leaves. The mouse didn’t take too kindly to that treatment and jumped off the pile and ran into the house. The problem was that he was burning as he ran and when he entered the house he stopped under the drapes. You guessed it - the drapes caught on fire and the house burned down. I’m sure that this mouse will be enshrined in the PETA Hall of Fame.</p>

7

<p>Sorry, I’m no fan of PETA and its tactics, but burning any creature alive is not a humane way of disposing of it, even if it is a pest. It’s terrible that the guy lost his house that way (I read the story this weekend), but I hope he’ll reconsider his rodent removal tactics in future.</p>

<p>In terms of hoarding behavior, I once lived with a guy whom I was <em>sure</em> I could “cure”. Silly me. And I’ve seen first-hand the sad results of someone who’s an animal hoarder. My last two pets were the offspring of animals seized in an effort to close down such a person’s home.</p>

<p>And while my husband may have some hoarding tendencies, we have always been able to park both cars in the 2-car garage. We are scrupulous about that.</p>

8

<p>Are you calling me unscrupulous?</p>

<p>BTW, I knew someone that started their first fire-place fire of the season one year, and had a flaming squirrel drop out of the chimney and race around the house on fire.</p>

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<p>It’s just our little way of being scrupulous. Others surely have their own ways. :)</p>

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<p>Elmo news:
<a href=“http://www.local6.com/news/5784303/detail.html[/url]”>http://www.local6.com/news/5784303/detail.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>To think I thought MY house was cluttered! (IT IS)</p>

<p>Did you read the part about their heads touching the ceiling? I guess I have more leeway in the biggest room of the house because it is vaulted two stories…so that must be why HER house was more cluttered :D.</p>

<p>However, it is a truly sad situation.</p>

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<p>I used to joke that I couldn’t have OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) because I often had to negotiate around the piles of things that stacked up around the house (particularly around my office); never know when you mind need this or that! Then, in gradaute school, I discovered the hoarding behavior aspect of OCD. Fortunately, I find I have no trouble throwing things out (when I finally find the time to get around to sorting it all!!!) so it’s probably not OCD!</p>

<p>It is truly sad that this incident happened. It reflects a real problem that many people are not aware of. I have been in homes where people even hoard garbage…the smell is awful. For some people, it is just too hard to rid themselves of anything (those with clinical OCD); for others, they are just collectors of memories. To the latter, remember, someday someone (probably an offspring) will have to sort and throw all that stuff away. Having gone through my parents things this way, I have vowed to make the task easy someday for my daughter but eliminating what I don’t need or want now…well, at least soon!!!</p>

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<p>I can throw stuff away, but I have a hard time parting with memories. I know i will never actually use some of the things I save, but I just can’t part with those art projects lovingly made by little hands :)</p>

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<p>

BINGO! You hit the nail on the head. While recently going through some things, I too vowed it would not be fair to box it up and leave for our dd to have to sort through in years to come. It’s just not fair to them. I have some items right now that I really don’t want, but I feel compelled to keep them because my parents (still living) gave them to me. I have some days where I feel that I can part with nothing and other days where I am willing to toss just about anything.</p>

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<p>I remember my father telling me that when he helped his wife clean out her parent’s house for sale they found huge boxes and boxes of saved paper clips in the attic. They even discovered that his father-in-law had cut open, flattened, and saved every cereal box they ever bought! It was a bit of a shock because their house was always very tidy. These folks grew up during the depression and boy it stuck.</p>

<p>I’m on board with everyone who says don’t leave the mess for the kids to sort through. I think about that now even though I hope to live many more years. I put away family heirlooms clearly marked, “Great-aunt Mabel’s table lines given to her as a wedding gift by Governor So-and-so in 1921” etc. so that the kids will know what it is they are looking at when they “sort”. If knowing the details they still choose to get rid of things, so be it. But at least I want them to know why I kept this “old box of napkins”.</p>

16

<p>gee-- first the hoarding dead lady story and then the talking elmo book saying “who wants to die”. Central Fla’s local 6 news has a warped, morbid streak. That, or it must have really been a slow news day…</p>