I hate junk. Call them what you will, knick knacks, Tchotchkes, decorations, collections...it's all junk to me. And there is nothing I like less. Junk makes its way into my house on occasion, birthday party favors, freebies from the bank, decorations off the tops of cupcakes, happy meal toys, junk mail, treasure from school...been there, done that. But here's my little secret. That stuff doesn't stand a chance in my house because I throw it away as soon as the rightful owner dares to put it down. I know. I know. It's bad for the environment. And they aren't mine to throw away. I'm terrible. I can live with that. But I can't live with junk. Clutter makes me anxious so everything I have, serves a purpose. Except my husband. KIDDING!!! Of course he serves a purpose. Who else would take out the massive amounts of garbage? Kidding again. I do that. Still kidding. (Mostly...)
Have you seen the show "Hoarders"? That's the stuff nightmares are made of. I get panicky when I can't see part of my counter top and these people haven't seen their entire floor in decades. I get shivers just thinking about it. Well imagine my horror when I discovered that my own daughter (yes, the one who lives for cleaning the house) is well on her way to her own episode on A&E. She would keep EVERYTHING if I let her and one look at her room proves that she has slipped some things by my strict entrance (to the house) requirements.
Here is the top of her dresser. From what I can identify, I see a collection of tags from her new school clothes, a bracelet, a Sillyband, a tub of colorful rocks (with a magic wand inside) and a paper house full of puff balls that she made for a tiny puppy. How any of those things have survived this long, I will never know.
And here is a look at her "jewerly". Not that she can wear any of it since it is so tangled.
Oh, and more rocks. This girl loves her rocks. Which surprisingly, are the thing that I have the least problem with.
Her nightstand is no better than her dresser. Notice another rock...
The thing about her is that she won't notice or care when I eventually do get a chance to clean out all of her junk (which I'm thinking I might do tonight while she is sleeping), but that almost makes it more puzzling as to why she has so much stuff that she has no attachment to.
One night, more than a year ago, I looked around the room as I tucked her into bed and announced that the next day we would be cleaning up. She asked, "Why do you always want me to put things away?" I said, "Too bad for you, but you got stuck with a momma who doesn't like junk just sitting around." She didn't skip a beat when she said, "Too bad for you, but you got stuck with a girl who does." And that, my friends, is why I love that kid. No matter how much junk she has.
We share your repulsion of junk. I have mini panic attacks sometimes when I think of all of the "stuff" we have to acquire now that we're expecting. I was super cluttered as a kid, but once I had to clean my own space, I realized it's way easier to keep a clear counter clean, than one with lots of trinkets on it. I bow to your organizational genius, Becca!
ReplyDelete