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Help! I am a pack rat
Filed under: Big Kids, Activities: Babies
I have a very crafty friend who invited me to a scrap booking party at her home next week. I had to decline the invitation as I am nowhere near a place where I could begin to scrapbook my gigantic, unorganized collection of photos. I have several large bins crammed full of photos dating from my own childhood and am at a loss as to how to get them organized.
When Christy was growing up, I took lots of photos. From this huge collection of pictures, I created exactly one photo album of her life and the rest are in jumbled messes in boxes around the house. When Ellie was born, I vowed not to let the same thing happen to her photos. I started out great - a photo album documenting her first year, complete with captions. It was all downhill from there and now her photos are in different jumbled messes around my house.
This photo mess is an indication of a larger problem: I am overwhelmed and disorganized in general. I have closets full of clothes, games, books, fabric and papers that need to be sorted and discarded or donated. However, recognizing the problem and solving the problem are two different things. I have let things get so far out of hand that I don't know where to begin cleaning it up.
In the grand scheme of things, this may not sound like a big problem, but for me it's causing a great deal of stress. Besides the fact that I am running out of places to put things, I have recently noticed that Ellie is becoming a bit of a collector herself. Every piece of scrap paper that she has ever touched is precious to her and she refuses to discard anything. She can't part with old, broken toys and wants to save the packaging from new ones. Her junk and my junk are now competing for space in the house.
I don't wish to pass on this life of chaotic clutter to Ellie and am trying to rectify the situation. Any tips on how to cure a pack rat?
When Christy was growing up, I took lots of photos. From this huge collection of pictures, I created exactly one photo album of her life and the rest are in jumbled messes in boxes around the house. When Ellie was born, I vowed not to let the same thing happen to her photos. I started out great - a photo album documenting her first year, complete with captions. It was all downhill from there and now her photos are in different jumbled messes around my house.
This photo mess is an indication of a larger problem: I am overwhelmed and disorganized in general. I have closets full of clothes, games, books, fabric and papers that need to be sorted and discarded or donated. However, recognizing the problem and solving the problem are two different things. I have let things get so far out of hand that I don't know where to begin cleaning it up.
In the grand scheme of things, this may not sound like a big problem, but for me it's causing a great deal of stress. Besides the fact that I am running out of places to put things, I have recently noticed that Ellie is becoming a bit of a collector herself. Every piece of scrap paper that she has ever touched is precious to her and she refuses to discard anything. She can't part with old, broken toys and wants to save the packaging from new ones. Her junk and my junk are now competing for space in the house.
I don't wish to pass on this life of chaotic clutter to Ellie and am trying to rectify the situation. Any tips on how to cure a pack rat?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-10-2007 @ 4:12PM
Heather said...If you find a cure, please post it! I come from a long line of pack rats. My poor husband is a neat freak. I swear my pack rat ways are getting better. I actually throw away birthday cards now -- within a month of my birthday, not years! But he won't be happy until every unused, outdated item is in the trash. That would mean throwing out my 30-year-old Holly Hobbie dolls and PoohBear! Is he insane?
Reply
4-10-2007 @ 9:47AM
barbara said...read the Apartment Therapy book... I can be a packrat too, and it is has been a HUGE help. you can get it at http://www.apartmenttherapy.com
Reply
4-10-2007 @ 10:26AM
Amanda said...I'm finding it hard to breath just reading your article!!!!
I'm the complete polar opposite of a packrat. I tend to throw away every single item that I do not think will serve any functional or decorational purpose. As a result, I have thrown out, or given away things that I really wish I had kept like, the prayer card from my Great Grandmother's funeral, I could have put it in a photo album! geeze, or great clothes and shoes, jewelry, dishes hell, even groceries.
HELP!!! I can't stop throwing stuff away!!!!
now that I'm married I practically have to wear a straight jacket to keep myself from throwing out my husbands junk!
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4-10-2007 @ 2:43PM
heidi said...Sounds like you need to "declutter". Check out www.flylady.com.
Reply
4-10-2007 @ 3:11PM
Ann Adams said...I'd suggest setting an example but it doesn't work too well here. I married a packrat who has been known to go through the wastebasket after I've been cleaning and sorting to make sure I didn't accidentally dispose of a treasure.
Seriously though, if you start with your own accumulation and let her help, she may be more willing to do the same thing with her own. She hasn't had as many years to become set in her ways as my hubbie.
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4-10-2007 @ 3:57PM
Eva said...These habits, yes, can be passed down through the generations. If this seems like a serious problem to you, like actual hoarding, you may want to consider help. If you just don't have time to go through things and want to be on the safe side by keeping things around until you do, you just need to set aside a weekend, maybe get a dumpster and a filing cabinet, and get to work. I say this as a person who is planning such a weekend to do something about the closets, and as a social worker who used to work with hoarders.
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4-10-2007 @ 4:04PM
Jennie said...I just found http://orgjunkie.blogspot.com/ a couple of weeks ago and love it.
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4-10-2007 @ 4:34PM
Kristine S. said...Part of the problem with clutter is that it can be overwhelming, so many people never get started in the first place.
Rather than say "I'll clean this room, or the closet, or whatever" start by setting aside about 2-3 hours and taking one laundry basket and filling it with "stuff". Go through whatever is in the basket, throwing away what you consider junk, file away important papers, put photos in a photobox to be dealt with at a future scrapbooking party, and create a maybe pile, a donate pile, or whatever you need.
Once you've gotten rid of the obvious "junk" and kept the important stuff, it will be less overwhelming to deal with the stuff that is somewhat valuable, but not invaluable.
The benefit of using the laundry basket method is that you have control to make it a 1, 2 or 3 basket weekend, and then you're done! (regardless of what the room looks like) Reward yourself for progress, and get back to it the following weekend.
This has always worked for me, and is particularly effective when moving (i.e. Is it valuable enough to go in the box?)
Good luck!
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 12:23AM
AnnaKay said...My best piece of advice is start getting rid of things... Start with one closet and get rid of anything that you have not touched in a year- regardless of your big plans to use it... Once I started doing this, it was like therapy and I was in a great mood. Another thing, be sure to put the stuff in your car and take it away as soon as possible... Believe me, it works!
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