The Tea Room Community Group
This is a private group by invitation only. It is a group for those who have a loved one with a brain injury. This group was not founded by me but I will serve as the founder temporarily as one of the first members.
Does anybody else have this problem with their loved one? Last night I really took a look at my house and the first thing that came to mind was, OMG we are living like the Clampetts ! We have a car enclosure, the kind you get from costco. It used to have a car in there but now if is full of crap. And the crap has runneth over ! My son brings home more treasures than we have room for. Not sure what or how to handle this situation.
We have a detached garage that has a studio apt. on it and that is where my son and his girlfriend live. They have a old couch sitting by their door.........and it is ugly ! They have a big plastic rubbermaid storage bin that sits on the other side of their door with stuff piled on the top of that. Basically I am totally embarrassed to drive up to my house. Granted we do not live a McMansion but really ?????? My home is small and very quaint. Now we look like trailer trash or those people who go on the Jerry Springer Show, how I would imagine they live. My friends come over and say WTF. We just point to the son and they chuckle. At least the inside of my home is clean. But now I am in the mood to chuck all the crap. I want to have a yard sale and get rid of everything that he has brought home and a lot of my unused stuff. I think that simplicity would be nice and think that it would help him from being overwhelmed by his crap. My fear is if I get rid of his treasures is he going to collect more? He is the person who now picks up everything free that people sit out by the road.........OMG!
Brain injuries bring on some very weird stuff . I had no idea my life would be this chaotic and overwhelming.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe just get a dumpster delivered and chuck everything when he is not home. Heck with his memory maybe he wont remember he even had it ! lol
We have a detached garage that has a studio apt. on it and that is where my son and his girlfriend live. They have a old couch sitting by their door.........and it is ugly ! They have a big plastic rubbermaid storage bin that sits on the other side of their door with stuff piled on the top of that. Basically I am totally embarrassed to drive up to my house. Granted we do not live a McMansion but really ?????? My home is small and very quaint. Now we look like trailer trash or those people who go on the Jerry Springer Show, how I would imagine they live. My friends come over and say WTF. We just point to the son and they chuckle. At least the inside of my home is clean. But now I am in the mood to chuck all the crap. I want to have a yard sale and get rid of everything that he has brought home and a lot of my unused stuff. I think that simplicity would be nice and think that it would help him from being overwhelmed by his crap. My fear is if I get rid of his treasures is he going to collect more? He is the person who now picks up everything free that people sit out by the road.........OMG!
Brain injuries bring on some very weird stuff . I had no idea my life would be this chaotic and overwhelming.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe just get a dumpster delivered and chuck everything when he is not home. Heck with his memory maybe he wont remember he even had it ! lol
Anyway, I have a suggestion for you. Talk to your son and ask him to help you have a garage sale. You want one but need more stuff for it. Remind him he'll make money so he can buy even more important treasures. I read onetime about this old retired farmer who starting collection stuff because he was bored and lonely. His farm got to be horrible and his kids didn't know what to do. So they went out for a few days and organized everything into boxes, containers, sheds etc. and had a huge sale. After that when he'd drag stuff home he put it in the appropriate place and the locals would stop by anytime they needed something and he'd usually have it. This may not work with a BI loved one but who knows. Maybe he'd find his niche.
If the garage sale doesn't work tell him he has so many days to get rid of 1/2 of the stuff. If he doesn't you will. Remind him if he does it then he gets to choose what he keeps. If you do it, he loses the choice. Take away the option. He'll fuss and complain but it's your house that he's living in. Your house, your rules.
Good luck!