Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Childhood Clutter Clearing

It took most of the day yesterday, but the new carpet installation was finally complete. When the workmen packed up their things and left both the cats and I were relieved. It was wonderful to be able to walk around the house without feeling like I was disturbing a workman, and I may or may not have done a little dance in the newly-straightened kitchen as I cooked dinner.

Today the handyman company came back to see if the closet doors needed to be adjusted on top of the fluffier flooring. About the time he left another special visitor arrived. Son Tony was in town to attend a work conference that started at noon today, but he flew in from Dallas last night to spend some time with his friends. One of them dropped him off here, and I took him to his hotel a couple of hours later.

Since Hubby Tony and I don't know how much storage we'll have in our new house, Son Tony's big task was to cull through his collection of childhood and teenage mementos, which we've stored for him in the basement and the closet of his old room since he left home.

To make the job easier, Hubby Tony and I carried everything into the kitchen last night. After Son Tony walked in we exchanged pleasantries, then he opened the first box and got down to work. I watched him excavate school and sports logo shirts, high school buzz books, plastic trophy sports awards, and some miscellaneous tchotchkes. A second box held mementos from Scout camping trips, Troop activities, and his Eagle project and ceremony.

Tony ran out of time before he made it through all of the boxes, but in the end he decided he could get rid of a banana box full of memories. He brought an extra suitcase to carry some of the things home. When he left it contained his high school yearbooks, several t-shirts, and a box of baseball cards. With my permission, he left two boxes here to retrieve at a later date.

Five years ago today: Who Can Understand The Mind Of A Cat?

11 comments:

  1. Oh Happy Times, having an adult child back home for a visit. These are some of the BEST of TIMES! It doesn't matter how short their visit is, it brings such joy. Glad you all had a nice visit.


    Wishing you a Happy Thursday!

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  2. How well I remember returning childhood possessions to my adult children when I sold "their" house. I wonder if they thought they could collect them when I'm dead.

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    1. When I was young and newly on my own my Mom had to force me to take my things from her house; I had other things on my mind. so I understand both sides of the story.

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  3. Good idea to get Tony to decide what to clear.

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    1. Two people with the same name in one blog post makes it VERY confusing :-)

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  4. My son moved in with me in between giving up his apartment here and moving out of state. I tried to get him to go through the rest of what's left in his room, but somehow it never got done. Maybe over the holidays. Wish me luck.

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    1. Been there, done that. Other than making a drastic measure like moving, I found that the best way was to ask them to pick a specific box/drawer/shelf/etc. to purge.

      Good luck!

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  5. When we downsized, I packed up both kids things and dropped them off at their homes. I rang the door bell and RAN!

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