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De-cluttering is a great way to determine who in your house are the “Purgers” and who are the Hoarders. In my house, daughter #1 and I are the Purgers. Daughter #2 and Hubby are the hoarders.
I can’t explain the joy a Purger feels when a Hoarder agrees to let something go. It must be akin to a bible beater converting an atheist, or how the Republicans felt when they convinced The Donald not to run as an independent.
De-cluttering can be stressful, even for a Purger. For a Hoarder, it must be mind blowing. I realized we had reached Hubby’s de-cluttering limit one day when he was supposed to be getting rid of stuff on his side of the bedroom, but that’s not what I found him doing. When I went into the bedroom to check on him (read “motivate him”) I found him sitting on the floor surrounded by piggy banks I didn’t even know existed. Each had been emptied onto the floor, and he was carefully sorting the coins into silver and penny piles.
I approached him with caution – this was going to have to be delicate.
“Um, whatcha doing, Hon?” I asked quietly.
“Sorting, “ he said, totally immersed in the job.
I watched for a minute, hoping he would get the hint. He didn’t.
“So, do you really think this is the best use of your time right now?” I asked. We were under a deadline to get it all done before the painting and repairs started.
Hubby muttered something about always wanting to have a big jar of silver coins.
Now you would think I’d let it go, realizing he’d reached the breaking point for the evening, but no….
“Why don’t you just take it all to the coin machine at the grocery store?” I asked impatiently.
He looked at me like I was insane. “Because I’ll get more when it’s full, “ he said.
Um…okaaaaay….
Yeah -control what you can control.
I can’t control the fact that everything is a week behind schedule, or that we keep changing the colors of the house, or that Donald Trump is somehow being taken seriously by many American voters. But I can control what I write. It may not be the Great American Novel, and I may not be able to whip up a seven-book, trillion dollar industry on a subway like JK Rowling, but I can sit on my front porch after working in the yard with boxwood bush branches still stuck in my hair and write this blog. I like to think of these blogs as commercials in everyone’s daily binge.
So control what you can control, no matter what’s going on, whether you do it by counting coins or sending words into cyberspace.
I’d love to offer you a penny for your thoughts on this whole moving process, but I think they’ve been packed.
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Subourbon Mom 
Great description of your situation. I could see it all and feel your frustration. Regrettably, I’ve been on both sides of th
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Comment by energywriter September 18, 2015 @ 12:24 pmSelling a house is definitely by far the harder of the two! Thanks for reading Sharon!
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Comment by libbyhall September 26, 2015 @ 12:52 pmSo true!
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Comment by lynchburggal70 September 18, 2015 @ 1:32 pmGreat blog! Tell hubby he will be supporting my brother by using coinstar to dispose of the coins, luv ya’ll
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Comment by Jeff link September 19, 2015 @ 2:14 amAnything for a friend – btw soon as we are sure of the closing info we’ll send out moving info…
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Comment by libbyhall September 26, 2015 @ 12:53 pm