I’ve found after living in the same house for almost forty years, I’ve collected way too much stuff. And there comes a time when I am still physically able, to start clearing out the clutter.
Decluttering your home can be a chore. But there are tips to help: begin by choosing one small area to organize, sort items into three piles: Keep, donate, and toss; find a specific home for everything you intend to keep; group similar items together; and if you buy something new, get rid of something else.
Good advice, but Cheryl Maguire offers an additional suggestion that I wish I had known earlier, in her article “Declutter Your Parent’s Home While They Can Join In”
As you can tell this is written by an adult child whose perspective, no offense to my children, I often find suspicious because it seems like they believe we can’t handle the situation ourselves. (Although I haven’t refused my son’s help installing the window air-conditioners!) Oops, I digress. Back to the article.
She encourages parents and their adult children to declutter together because by doing so it becomes an enjoyable activity instead of a chore. And most gratifying, you recall forgotten memories triggered by something you had tucked away long ago. Then you can share those memories about the treasures you’ve discovered: your son’s old teddy bear or your daughter’s grade school poems. It’s as if you’re going through a three-dimensional family picture album.
So, what are some tips Cheryl Maguire offers to make decluttering with your children fun?
- Use music to set the mood. Play your old favorites, you know, the “good” music with understandable lyrics that just hint at sex. (Remember “Afternoon Delight”?) But you can’t spend all your time dancing!
- Treat everyone with food. Have some pizza or desserts ready. Or keeping with the nostalgic mood, prepare something you ate when you were young: peanut butter and mayonnaise on a sliced banana, laid on a piece of lettuce – or maybe not!
- Share memories about what you find. Create a memory box for each family member. You could also document the shared stories in a journal, or you can make video recordings of the stories as they’re told while you declutter.
- And I would add, don’t rush. Enjoy the memories together. You don’t want it to be a chore.
Decluttering with your children provides an opportunity to have fun, share life stories, and learn more about each other. And maybe in the process, they will finally take their stuff you’ve been storing for 25 years!
The next question for your “Soul Portrait”. If you were to have a conversation, what topics would interest you?
BRAIN TEASE: “While on my way to St. Ives, I saw a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kittens. Kittens, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were going to St. Ives?”
The simple card game played by children that relies exclusively on luck was “War”. I received correct answers from Judy Kiser, Donna Mollet, Rebecca Abrams, Marny Weting, Linda Frizzell, and Rhonda Spies who is this week’s winner of a quilt raffle ticket.
I can’t recall if in high school or college, I ever read this widely popular and controversial 1951 novel written by J. D. Salinger that was especially influential among adolescent readers. For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the title of this novel that depicted adolescent alienation and loss of innocence through the eyes of the main character Holden Caulfield? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788, or send it with a picture of Salinger’s home in Cornish, New Hampshire where he lived for 30 years as a recluse.
Well, it’s been another week, looking for a nice cool smoke-free breeze. Until we meet again, why is the shortest distance always the longest?
“Friendship is the comfort, the inexplicable comfort of feeling safe with a person having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring all right out just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful friendly hand will take and sift them keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of comfort blow the rest away.” Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Answer: ǝɯ ‘ǝuo ʇsnſ.
