So, less than three months to go and we are finally getting the last of our junk into the attic to make room for this little man. Throughout the entire process I have continually been amazed by how much CRAP we managed to pack into that closet. Granted it is about three feet wide by nine feet long... but still...
The other thing that has amazed me about packing up all of this junk is the difference of opinion that Jake and I have about what should and should not be packed away and stored. After high school I moved to the dorms, then to an apartment, then to my trailer and then to here. Somewhere in all of that I realized that no... I don't need that old swing choir costume or those old syllabuses from English 101.
So, what I have kept are pictures and major projects or papers from classes I have taken. Scattered in there are a few odd items of clothing that meant something to me, like the three toned leather jacket covered in stains that I saved from my mom's junk/goodwill pile more than once and wore from junior high through high school, much to her dismay.
Jake, however, has moved once and only once in his adult life. He came from his parents house straight to the house we live in and all the junk from his closet there came with him here. NONE of which he seems willing to part with. Now I realize that one persons junk is another man's treasure but I think we crossed the line when we packed up his old wrestling shoes and "protective" gear into one of those totes.
Oh yes, you read that right. His reasoning was one day my son might want to... no hunny, your son is NEVER going to want to see your old "protective gear" or your old shoes. Yet still... into a tote they went. I suppose in the grand scheme of things since his parents didn't keep any of his old school papers or anything from vacations that I could find these are probably his only memories of his high school days so a few totes of crap won't kill us.
However, what might kill us is his incessant need to keep EVERYTHING that may one day be needed for something. While cleaning there were a few things that I managed to wrestle from his grubby little hands and convince him that he REALLY didn't need to keep. The problem then becomes the time between when I throw it away and when the garbage man gets to our house.
Case in point. He has an old cloth portable CD player case. We do not own a portable CD player. We have no plans of purchasing a portable CD player. Yet, after the trash man came I noticed, stached away on the back porch, the portable CD player case.
His theory is someday we might need this. My theory, if we need it we will buy it!! So for now, I will just continue to sneak meaningless items into the garbage and play the no hunny... I have no idea where that went card. However, if he decides to start packing away food items.... I'm drawing the line!!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
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5 comments:
Oh my dear lord! I know what you mean though... Dan has old t-shirts from his college days over 10 years & 50 lbs ago that he insists on keeping... what a goof!
I am appalled that you would try to make him throw his wrestling gear away. Like Jake, Shane came with half broken boxes full of stuff and after we bought our home we went through everything. He threw a bunch of stuff away but somewhere packed in a tote is Shane’s wrestling shoes, wrestling gear wrestling singlet, baseball glove, and baseball cleats. This gear/equipment stands for hard work, dedication, achievement, drive, and an undying passion; a talent that offered him many college scholarships and life long friendships. I do hope (should we ever have children) Shane will dig that stuff out and show and tell the stories of back in the day. Although I doubt he will have to dig the stuff out as I plan to hang it in our sports themed bar basement. Now playing the card of “our children could wear that someday” won’t work as that equipment has aged enough already to make it illegal. So I will tell you what Jake couldn’t: “Wife, I want to keep it because it represents a day and time when I was happy and proud of myself for being part of a team and achieving my goals. This is what I want to share with my children and that is why I want to keep it.”
Now I say to Jake….I have helped you this much, get rid of the damn CD case already!
Oh my...I know so well the horror in which you are living. I am the tosser, my husband is the saver. My feeling is, if we haven't used it in a year, we won't and if we need it after that, we will buy it. My husband thinks, we might need it so why not have it on hand? This is not so helpful when we reside in an apartment that is just over 1000 sq ft. We are learning to communicate and compromise. If he can find a space for it and it doesn't mean I have to move it to get to what I want, he can keep it. If not, out it goes.
"no hunny, your son is NEVER going to want to see your old 'potective gear'or your old shoes." LMAO!
You need to be sneakier girl. When Hoop and I started packing I threw away all kinds of crap he'll never miss or remember having. Example: 32 empty cd cases, NONE of which he has the cds for.
I can imagine keeping maybe an old Jersey-- but shoes!!! No. Stinky- smelly.. and they will NEVER go back on his feet again! Take a picture of them and start a scapbook. That way he cann at least look back on those times, without the stench!
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