16 October 2010

Which are you…

Are you a saver/keeper or a thrower-awayer?  My mom and sister are are keepers, I am a thrower-awayer.  My mom has told my sister that after she dies she better get to her house first, so I don’t throw all of her stuff away.  I’m not saying saving/keeping is bad, it’s just not my style.  There are several things that I am so grateful to my mom for saving… baby clothes, Halloween costumes, to name a couple.  I do keep some things, but for the most part I chuck!  It feels good to throw things ways… cleansing.  There have been a few times that I look back and wish I hadn’t thrown something out, but so be it.

Evelyn appears to be a saver/keeper.  I’m trying hard not to crush her spirit, but sheesh… she has a lot of stuff.  We did a de-junking of her room today… all the drawers and nooks and crannies that she can stuff things in were emptied and gone through.  It was tough and I let her keep some things, but she would keep EVERY little scrap of paper if I let her.  I don’t want her to resent me someday for making her throw her stuff away, but I don’t want her to turn into one of those weird hoarder people.  Not to be critical, but people that save that much stuff have issues.  I’m just saying I don’t want her to have issues.  As we were just about finished, I was sitting on her bed and could see something on one of her closet selves.  I couldn’t tell what it was… it was a picture that she got in the drive threw at Chik-fil-A.  You should have seen the look on her face when I told her she had to throw it away… Why that was such a treasured possession, I don’t know.

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3 comments:

Jenna said...

I grew up a keeper/saver with a mother that was as well...but the older I get, more my family grows, I am becoming more of a thrower-awayer...especially when it comes to paper. Cyrena saves paper also and I have to sneak her stuff into the garbage!

Collette said...

I am a thrower-awayer raised by two keeper-savers. My two older kids are keepers as well. I have the same fear that they'll resent me for not keeping every last piece of paper. I wish I had the solution. Let me know if you stumble upon something that works!

Mjika said...

This is when sending kids to school is a good idea - you clean their "stuff" while they are not there and never really miss it.
As for letting go - we keep the "really nice" projects in a folder already filled with sheet protectors. They go right there and one day when they are married they have to take the books.
Another idea is to get a board and hang it all on. Once it is filled, snap a picture of her by them to remember it all by - clear the board and start over.
Good luck!