One of the bigger jobs I've promised to tackle this holiday is the 'room of shame'. Despite my lack of pride when it comes to my desk for WOYWW, I'm, not sharing' before' pictures of this spare room. Suffice to say, when we 're-modeled' Miss Dunnit's bedroom into something suitable for a grown up , all the girly, kid stuff was consigned to boxes and slung in the room of shame. And I mean all. Everything - toys, teddies, books, junk...all of it. So today, armed with 4 boxes - keep, bin, ebay, charity - I set the timer and we made a start. The timer was set because it is misery - getting her to part with anything is hard, and sorting out a load of junk that's been sitting quietly and without blame for too long is horrible. We tackled one large box. We ahhed and oohed over the plastic jewellery and the collection of Horrible History books and we laughed at the number of little handbags she was given as birthday presents from the age of about 4. Yep - 2 months in front of her 18th birthday and we still have 'em. We fished out about 30 sheets of stickers which she's going to hand over to the neices and some really fab neice appropriate beady jewellery. The rest was broken down into the four boxes......and for once, without tears or argument. She seems to have turned the corner of sentiment and for one box full at least, is OK to part with stuff that really, she'll never look at again even if we do stuff it into yet more boxes in the attic. So...what do you reckon my chances are for tomorrow's twenty minutes? And the day after - when she realises that two of the bigger boxes are full of stuff that I should have gone through when that little room was my craft room - before I moved into this purpose built, downstairs room? Save me...the double standard is weighing me down already!
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20 comments:
I do hope it won't be handbags at dawn! LOL
Good luck with the massive sort out!
xoxo Sioux
It is the best thing to have someone to chivvy you into chucking stuff out, I have a good friend who has offered to help me - one day, lol, when I am feeling brave enough to start... good on you and Miss Dunnit too.
I think sentimentality comes in phases, I was looking under my bed for something n realised how much... junk, theres no other word for it I had collected in recent years including a load of stuff bought by/belonging to my ex that Im just not attached to anymore so guess how my bank holidays r gonna be spent!
Well done you. We still have about 300 teddies of your youngest daughter's collection in our attic and although she has two little girls of her own now she wont let them have them!!.....one day maybe?
A x
Hey Julia...
I know what this is like. My eldest wil be 13 this year and she is fairly good although she boxes things up and just puts them in my youngest daughters room and she won't get rid of anything. Still trying to get rid of Happy Street which is aimed at 2 year olds..She is 8 in August. Well Done for beginning the painful clear out...
Ahh bless her she might have been ok but did you shed any tears? When I was sorting out baby clothes for my brother when my nephew was born I spent the night in tears!!!! Do you still have the Horrible History books as I know a little man here who would love them ask nearly 18yr old if she wants to sell please x x
The sorting & boxing was never a problem. It was getting the boxes out of the door to their various destinations LOL
Toni :o)
Good luck with your project. I hope to see the finished project....Imagine the great satisfaction for a job well done.
I'm not brave enough to tackle hannah's room yet, and I'm sure she wouldnt let me!! Well done you xx
Hey my two are 37 and 40 with children and still I am chatelaine of hoards of their possessions. DD2 still asks all the way from Germany... "Mum, have you seen, can you find, where is, I need... etc., appealing for tiny sentimental notes, cards, photos, books etc., and then I am wracked wasting hours looking through boxes in the loft, the spare room the garage until I do or do not find said items.......Be warned, you've got a loooooonnnng way to go!
JoZarty x
I don't have any children, but I do seem to have a problem saving "junk." One would think the boxes could be chucked with little or no remorse, but obviously both of you will find some things more painful than others to rid yourself of. Good luck getting through the maze to the trees. Of course, 20 minutes is certainly better than nothing.
Hi Julia - your great post got me thinking, so find yourself mentioned in dispatches - too long to comment here! http://teddywaresandflutterbies.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-empathise-with-mrs-dunnit.html
The idea of a timer is a great one - especially for a procrastinator like me!
Love for now, Chris x
i have an attic full of stuff i need to go through and it's not my daughter who has a hard time with parting with stuff - i'm the one who's always thinking this could be made into a project, and that has too much sentimental value, and well, what if i become a grandma soon, i would need these toys and books for my grandkids, wouldn't i? but i recently got rid of a whole load of books to donate to a public school in a very poor community, so i'm not hopeless!
Ah, the sort out, Julia you have my sympathy, I'm trying to persuade my 5 year old DD that se no longer needs her baby toys & should give them to children who don't have any toys (the easiest way to explain the charity shop to her) but she doesn't want to give them up, despite the fact that there is no room for new toys come Christmas! I still have boxes in the attic from when I moved in here 7 years ago, still unopened, it may be easier if I just hire a really big skip lol
C
xx
My youngest is the same, he has a little box room and is very reluctant to part with anything, he will spend hours looking through a biscuit tin of bits and bobs when we are trying to sort out his room. Thanks for your lovely comment on my tutorial, it was a nervewracker showcasing something on the WOJ blog! The DT are so good, hope I didn't let the side down!
Jane
x
Good on you both, sometimes the cleaning out of old things can be very cathartic. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the things that need to be taken out, perhaps i should do the same at some point in the near future.
smiles
Paola
hee hee the 'room of shame'. We've all been there. Good luck!
Oy. Dropped over from It's An Alien Life to see workdesks around the world and found you here doing what so many of us are doing, should do or perhaps have done ... AAAAHHHH!!!! ... cheers to you ... it's not easy work!
I think we all have a room ( at least a closet) of shame. When my eldest two left home, I started sorting their 'junk' one day. Took about the whole day! Then I phoned them and told them that their dad's truck was leaving for the dump in an hour with all their stuff. They had two choices, live with that or come and rescue it, but it was NOT allowed back into my house! Whatever happened to the 'rescued stuff I don't know, and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.
Thats hoa I finally got my craftroom after all.
I think its time to do the same to the younger two. Good luck with your efforts.
I am so BAAAAD at that! When we moved I couldn't bear to throw stuff away, I just put them in boxes, wrote what was inside the boxes, and stored it in or building bodega! It's still there! Patsy from
HeARTworks
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