Sunday, March 08, 2009

Hi. My name is Debbie. I'm a packrat, but I'm trying to change.


I admit it. I tend to not ever throw anything away in case I might need it later hang on to things a bit longer than what I should. If you ask my mom about this little problem of mine, she would probably roll her eyes and say something on the lines of "Oh, she's been that way forever!!"
And yes, she's more than likely right.

Yep...that would be me.

The thing about my messiness, though, is this: it is organized messiness. No really...ask me where anything is and I can tell you exactly where it is. I think that the K-man sometimes does this just to see if the object he is asking for can actually be found. Silly man. You would think that after 14 years of being together he'd learn. Bwahahahaha!! Bring it on!!

Yes, I'm creative and using this as justification for my messiness has worked well in the past, except now....I'm going to have to readjust my thinking.
My oldest son...Issei...is, and I cringe as I type this thinking of what my mom is going to say about this....yes, my friends, he is just. like. me.~~sigh~~
Funny how I can handle my own room being "creatively untidy", but as a mom with a child who thrives in an area like that? NO WAY, YOUNG MAN!!!
(I'm pretty sure that my late-father had a hand in this....this would be just the sort of thing that he would be ROFLhisAO about!!!)
Because children learn by observing...I have become a cleaning maniac this weekend!!! As he and his friends kept coming in and out during the afternoon, not once was I not in my room working. The pile of stuff that was for "trash" kept getting bigger and bigger.

I spent most of yesterday and a few hours today going through stuff and pitching out...throwing away...getting rid the things that really.....I don't need...don't use...don't even know why I have kept them anymore.
Tomorrow is trash day and there are 5 bags...5 heavy bags of trash waiting to be lugged to the gomi station...the trash "cage". My goal is to have 3 bags of trash from my room every trash-day until this room is clean.
(Note to self: buy more trash bags!!)
Many times in the past 24 hours, I have thought that having one of these would be easier.

Actually, while I was going through 6 years of magazines, newspaper clippings, pictures, class worksheets and what-not....I kept reminding myself of my 2 new ways of looking at this whole cleaning process:
*1. Clean and throw away stuff like I would if I were packing up and moving.
**2. If something, God forbid, were to happen to me tomorrow, how would I feel about people going through my stuff? How much do/did I have that would be totally embarrassing to me...even from Heaven (to which I'm sure I'd be going!) would I want to reach down and say "Oh no! Don't open up THAT box!!!!"
So, there you go. A new goal for me and hopefully, if the the Gods are listening and the moons and stars are aligned, then Issei will see this and realize that he, too, can change. I may have to leave more than subtle hints for him, but....we'll see.
Wish us luck.
And...if the Gods are REALLY listening and the moons and stars are aligned perfectly, then THIS well be on my front porch tomorrow when I wake up!!

Hey...a girl can dream, can't she?? teehee



**Pictures from Google Images.**

11 comments:

smalltownme said...

Hi, my name is Heidi and I'm a packrat.

I'm doing better thought. I got rid of a ton of stuff when we switched the kids' rooms this summer. My personal goal has been to keep the kitchen table and counter clear and I am succeeding at that! Yay!

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

My name is Jenn and I (probably) shredded and recycled my son's W2. I have the opposite problem.

Anonymous said...

Hi,the moving part me so I can now say I have advance from being a packrat. Dave's theory(which only pertains to my things, I discovered) is if you haven't needed or used it in 3 years you will not and won't be.....GET RID OF IT. As for him....oh thats a collectable/antique. Good Luck. Shellie
PS. Clarence Stevenson said TY lived with he and Laura for awhile.

ms-teacher said...

First, you are a nut and one that I love a lot!

Second, both my husband & I are packrats, but my husband is worse than me. Seriously, he keeps magazines that are years old because he might need them "one of these days."

Finally, I have a post up especially for you :)

Helena said...

I live in such a small place it's impossible to be a packrat. I'm forced to take stuff to the charity shop or sell it on Ebay once or twice a year. Oh well. At least it's easy to keep things tidy. :-)

truebitch said...

I threw out all kinds of stuff like I was moving. Why? I am moving! Aieeee!!!

TB

3rdEyeMuse said...

yep, me, too ... luck, luck, luck!

shrink on the couch said...

I am in total sympathy. I've got some tendencies that border on hoarding. I don't like to throw away. I wore a shirt the other day that I realized was 20 yrs old. Oldie but goodie. I develop emotional attachments to clothes. Been meaning to do a thorough shedding in my closet for months now. Maybe now I'll have that little bit of additional motivation I need.

Grandy said...

We are kindred spirits. Sistahs of anutha mutha homey!! ;)

Thanks for sharing your philosophy of your 2 new rules. Good things to keep in mind. :)

Janet said...

I clean off my dining room table...and piles appear there again as if overnight! I don't get it...

Jason, as himself said...

Good luck with this. Just don't let yourself become surrounded with junk stacked clear up to the ceiling, only to have it all fall on you and crush you in an earthquake, like what happened here to a couple in 1994.

Because that would be bad.