Apparently no one wants their old report cards. Goodness knows, they didn’t “bring me joy” although the teachers brought me to fewer dark places than I expected.
Feeling slightly guilty about trashing these since both my and DH’s parents saved al of them.
Should have added that I also have a Miata. Ds might take that if we died tomorrow.
All I wanted was my mother’s Singer Featherweight, on which I learned to sew. My older brother didn’t want anything. But my younger brother took it all. My parents had some nice early American furniture and he had a house he was building that needed furniture. I am happy to report he has used it in his own way, hung the pictures, used the kitchen stuff, furnished his empty rooms. It’s a pleasure to visit his house, it feels like home but with his own twist.
“Who knows - maybe a “new” design fad a few years from now will make antiques hot again? Until then, they’re not in general valuable, just old.”
As I mentioned previously, that is already starting to happen. Here are a handful of many articles on the “grandmillennial” aesthetic from a wide range of sources…
https://www.businessinsider.com/grandmillennials-vintage-home-decor-trends-2019-10
https://www.onekingslane.com/live-love-home/grandmillennial-style/
https://food52.com/blog/24846-grandmillennial-home-decor-trend
https://nypost.com/2019/10/16/millennials-with-old-souls-splash-out-on-grandma-chic-homes/
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a28594040/grandmillennial-design/
My kid’s dad passed away in the last few months. We were divorced decades ago. The offspring are valuing the art work most of all and some sculptural pieces. Of course none own houses, yet.
If we die tomorrow, the Subarus will be snatched up immediately.
I think I might be a grandmillennial.
I asked Mr. B this question. His response, “Our stuff as it exists now or our stuff as it will be in 20-30 years? Maybe the granite top tables, because the cats will slowly destroy the rest!” ? Yup. As the saying on one of Mr.'s yardwork t-shirts says, “I work hard to be able to afford nice things for my cats to pee on.”
Our kids are still too young for any of it, but we’ve had discussions about what they’d like. I have an antique teacup collection that my daughter and I drink out of every single day. DD has of course expressed interest in inheriting the entire collection, but even DS surprised us by saying that he’d want a few.
My husband is a professional musician and has amassed a huge collection of guitars, drums, recording equipment, etc. He intends to make sure that each kid ends up with a few of the more special ones that certain records were created with, but the rest can be sold, donated, etc.
We have a very small handful of art and pieces of furniture that I think that they’ll want to divvy up between them, as well as a ton of photos that will hopefully be scanned in before DH and I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Both kids are really sentimental so I think that they’ll end up wanting more than other kids their age, but it won’t hurt my feelings if they don’t.
I have no interest in the two or so items of my father’s stuff- sibs can have them. Grew up with shabby stuff and nothing of real value. A few piec
We left some furniture behind when we downsized and moved OOS- friends and family could take what they wanted when the house sold. Son took one glass top coffee table that he could fit in his Civic- if we had known we could have gotten both to him before we left. I have told him that when we die the one “heirloom” item he should really keep is the Indian area rug my inlaws picked out for us- quality and design from H’s home area.
I see a massive sale/donations to clear out our stuff. No sentimentality seems to exist for H and S, mine is limited. Maybe because we came from roots where people could not afford much and hence there has been little to pass down to become heirlooms. Hand me downs are not the same- and worn out…
My kids have expressed interest in silver & china and since I have my mother’s sets and mine, that will work out fine for the two of them. D also wants Christmas china. The thing that they will “fight” over is the cute Advent calendar with an ornament to hang on a tree each day. They had to take turns growing up and used to text home their choices during college when one of them would start it up. S’s wife asked for an Advent calendar this year and I forgot to ask if they received it. It would solve the problem of who gets our family’s. D claims she will fight her brother over it. There are some art items they are each interested in as well, but nothing as contentious as the Advent calendar.
Ha! Or one of your kids could marry a die-hard Vikings fan, and that one share of stock could fall into enemy hands.
Just saying that something similar could now happen to my Packers-owner husband, whose share is destined for our Vikings-crazed son-in-law.
LOL! Perish the thought! D is married and SIL is a Packer fan (he has to be if he is married to her- just sayin’). We will see about S.
On another note, I lost both of my parents in the last 3 years. They had a house full of antiques that no one wanted. My siblings and I are in our late 50’s/early 60’s and have our own stuff. No grandkids were interested. Stuff went to an auction house which gave us practically nothing for it.
We have lived in this house for 25 years…so most everything in it is that old…or older. Our 30 something kids really can have anything they want…now. Well…except DD wants our breakfast table and chairs, and she will need to wait for that because we like it too…and use it.
But we aren’t going to make them wait until we move or die to have stuff. It will be nice to see them use anything they take…if the actually do!
S2 is not sentimental in the slightest, so would want nothing other than any pots and pans needed to fill his collection. S1 would want some of the Christmas decorations, and a few mementos from his childhood. That’s pretty much it. I have told them my jewelry should go to the female cousins, as I doubt either son will marry.
I figure I am doing them a favor by getting rid of as much stuff as possible because they certainly won’t want it. If I think they might want something I do ask them but 99% of the time the answer is no.
Massmom is absolutely correct. 30 years ago, I would have wanted a lot of my mom and dad’s stuff. Now I have a fully furnished home and I am looking to minimize my possessions myself.
I am trying to take a lesson from this. Anything my kids want now (within reason), I am giving them now, while they are just starting out. I have more than enough stuff.
Does the paper that shows the account balances count? We don’t really have “nice” artwork, but it is from places we’ve been, we like it, and it means a fair amount to us. My son’s SO just commented on how much she liked it last weekend, and son has suggested we should part with a couple of pieces. Not likely to happen anytime soon. I am trying to figure out if/when either of my son’s will want the antique and very simple mahogany dining room furniture from their paternal great grandparents (My ex-husband’s grandparents). I hope they want it, but not until we downsize.
My son would love our house (I doubt my daughter will live in this city/state) and he’d want his dad classical guitar & music. The piano is old, rickety and way below his standards/abilities. He’s also cheap, so if he had his place, knowing him he’d take as much as he could just to avoid spending money. 
There are a couple antique-ish pieces both kids like, but mostly because they’ve grown up with them. I see them taking some of the art, all the old family photos.
Sadly, neither will be interested in our book collection. And that’s disappointing because it means a lot to ME.