So here's our question of the day: what do you do with a packrat husband? Has anyone dealt with this before? Or what do you do if he's way messier than you are? How do you find a compromise?
I don't usually link on the Wifey Wednesday posts, but since I was already planning a post in this area, I thought it would be quite fitting!
I may have mentioned this before, but I am a bit of a packrat and not the tidiest person in the world. We didn't have much money when I was little, though we never went without, but my dad definitely had the mindset of never wasting anything b/c his family really struggled financially He has been known to dumpster dive...more than a few of our childhood toys were picked up off the side of the road...and when I was in college he was like a kid on Christmas when everyone was moving out and they had the huge dumpsters behind the dorms!! and really, people threw away good stuff b/c they didn't want to take it home... So I have been raised to really put a value on obtaining stuff for little or no money, and also not to waste!
The same types of attitudes seem to be in hubs' family. When his grandmother passed away and we helped to clean her house we found SO much stuff and she clearly held onto anything that she felt had value or usefulness.
I am definitely thankful that we are at least similar in our backgrounds so that we aren't always fighting and driving each other crazy with our opposing habits, but we do not motivate one another to get things done...that is for sure.
I find that I am more motivated to get rid of excess stuff...especially now that there are so many options for recycling & selling things on consignment, but hubs doesn't like to let things go. I often watch shows like Hoarders and Clean House to motivate myself to accomplish some organiation...but this week I saw that those same things would not motivate hubs. I was watching an episode of Hoarders which depicted a man who had amassed an out-of-control collection of beer cans, and was facing bankruptcy due to his compuslion to keep collecting. Hubs walked through the room and saw a clip of the show and said "Oh no! Why are they making him get rid of his collection?!?" At that moment I just laughed and thought...I wonder why my house looks the way it does? Not that I'm blaming him totally....I definitely have my share in the mess. It's just funny.
Well, this is what I am facing right now. Needless to say, I am quite overwhelmed:
I may have mentioned this before, but I am a bit of a packrat and not the tidiest person in the world. We didn't have much money when I was little, though we never went without, but my dad definitely had the mindset of never wasting anything b/c his family really struggled financially He has been known to dumpster dive...more than a few of our childhood toys were picked up off the side of the road...and when I was in college he was like a kid on Christmas when everyone was moving out and they had the huge dumpsters behind the dorms!! and really, people threw away good stuff b/c they didn't want to take it home... So I have been raised to really put a value on obtaining stuff for little or no money, and also not to waste!
The same types of attitudes seem to be in hubs' family. When his grandmother passed away and we helped to clean her house we found SO much stuff and she clearly held onto anything that she felt had value or usefulness.
I am definitely thankful that we are at least similar in our backgrounds so that we aren't always fighting and driving each other crazy with our opposing habits, but we do not motivate one another to get things done...that is for sure.
I find that I am more motivated to get rid of excess stuff...especially now that there are so many options for recycling & selling things on consignment, but hubs doesn't like to let things go. I often watch shows like Hoarders and Clean House to motivate myself to accomplish some organiation...but this week I saw that those same things would not motivate hubs. I was watching an episode of Hoarders which depicted a man who had amassed an out-of-control collection of beer cans, and was facing bankruptcy due to his compuslion to keep collecting. Hubs walked through the room and saw a clip of the show and said "Oh no! Why are they making him get rid of his collection?!?" At that moment I just laughed and thought...I wonder why my house looks the way it does? Not that I'm blaming him totally....I definitely have my share in the mess. It's just funny.
Well, this is what I am facing right now. Needless to say, I am quite overwhelmed:
the view from the doorway
So, in answer to Sheila's questions, hubs and I are pretty much on the same messy page in all of this. I still have about 98% of the housekeeping duties and focus on keeping our "common areas" neat; but he has the freedom to keep his office however he wants. I maintain most of the other areas, he puts his dishes in the sink and recycles his cans and bottles and takes out the trash and part of the recycling (we have MUCH more recycling than trash, something that I am very proud of :) ). If there is something that is just taking up space and not of any value to us we discuss it and take it to consignment or throw it away if it's okay with him. If not, I usually just put it in "his room" and try to forget about it. Things will have to change somewhat for us to have room for kids (!) but we're working on it.
I really want to get rid of a lot this year, and I am not waiting until the new year to start cleaning! The room looks a little better, but I have a lot do, and am feeling motivated. I just want to keep it going this time.
and from the corner...
AHHH!!! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!
This is my "craft room"/guest room/hubs extra computers. Eventually this room is meant to be a child's room, but I don't know how we would ever fit one in here without squishing them! We have filled our house--we have too much stuff. Two people should not require over 1400 square feet just for stuff! This room is the catch-all room, when I am cleaning for people to come over, I tend to focus on the common areas and since we do not use this room regularly, everything just gets thrown in there. Right now, I have to get the room in order b/c I have some friends visiting next weekend and at least one will be spending the night so they need a place to sleep. AHHH!!! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!!
So, in answer to Sheila's questions, hubs and I are pretty much on the same messy page in all of this. I still have about 98% of the housekeeping duties and focus on keeping our "common areas" neat; but he has the freedom to keep his office however he wants. I maintain most of the other areas, he puts his dishes in the sink and recycles his cans and bottles and takes out the trash and part of the recycling (we have MUCH more recycling than trash, something that I am very proud of :) ). If there is something that is just taking up space and not of any value to us we discuss it and take it to consignment or throw it away if it's okay with him. If not, I usually just put it in "his room" and try to forget about it. Things will have to change somewhat for us to have room for kids (!) but we're working on it.
I really want to get rid of a lot this year, and I am not waiting until the new year to start cleaning! The room looks a little better, but I have a lot do, and am feeling motivated. I just want to keep it going this time.
goodluck girl! show me a good before and after when you get that room ready for your visitor! if you need someone to come in and just purge- i am quite good at it ;)
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