(no subject)

[the_rck]

In years past, Cordelia has had the sort of Advent calendar that has little pieces of chocolate for each day. This year, with our efforts to keep her away from dairy, Scott bought her a different sort of calendar-- It's a Playmobil thing with a little toy for each day. Cordelia loves it. Scott hopes we can put it all away at the end and reuse it next year. I hate it because it's more clutter, clutter with teeny pieces to get lost.

Of course, I'm currently seeing everything as clutter. I want to throw out everything we own, even the things we use or value highly. Refraining from going overboard means that I'm doing nothing to reduce the problem, and really, I have no idea where to start or where to draw the line. Plus, throwing out things that belong to Scott or Cordelia without consulting them seems a Bad Idea. I may end up doing it, especially with Cordelia's stuff as she won't okay getting rid of anything, but I'm trying to hold myself back for fear that I'll start pitching things I oughtn't.

This has led to a difficulty with Scott's parents. They want a Christmas wishlist from me, and I can't think of anything to put on it. I want nothing tangible coming into the house, no clothes, no books, no DVDs, no yarn, nothing. I can't think of anything I want enough to ask for it, at least not stuff they can give. All I can think of is the stuff I don't want.

I'm hoping that, once my leg is doing better, the urgency of the clutter hate will die down enough that I can work on a purge without worrying that I'll go too far. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until Scott or some other adult has time to help me out with it (or maybe until Cordelia grows up).

Comments

[hopeofdawn]

Well--maybe it would help if you could just let them know that storage space/room in your house is at a premium right now, and that you'd appreciate more intangible gifts instead? Restaurant certificates, children's museum tickets, things that can be eaten/consumed (for Delia, for instance), online gaming subscriptions/gift cards, or maybe only 1-2 toys/DVDs etc. max? (to prevent temper tantrums at the lack of Xmas toys by the non-adults in the house).

I can definitely sympathize with your uncluttering efforts--if I had someone second-guessing everything I wanted to get rid of, I'd go insane. Maybe you can pack some of Scott and Delia's stuff away in a box(es), leave it for a month/6 months/whenever, and then point out that they hadn't missed any of it for that time,and have Scott haul the box to Goodwill without even looking in it? Saves on the last minute 'but I NEED that!' quibbles .... (the caveat being that during the time it was stored, anything they DID want/use would have gotten pulled out anyway ...)

[the_rck]

I'm not sure where I'd put a box of stuff for six months. If I had space, though, I wouldn't think it a bad solution.

Cordelia has so many scattered pieces of broken but still pretty bits. They all ought to go away. She'll notice them going, though.