kristinannie Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) OK. I am taking back my house when my kids are at "grandma camp" in two weeks (a whole week with no kids!!!! ). I want to have a plan of attack ready to go so I don't waste any time. My biggest plan is to clean out closets. We have too much junk in there so we can't properly store things. They also don't have shelves, but we cannot afford to put shelves in all the closets right now. Here is the main problem: My husband is a serious packrat. I would consider his parents hoarders. Most of their house is unusable (not the main living spaces). Our house is usable, but severely cluttered. I don't know how to approach this. My husband says I can get rid of things, but then gets very upset when I do. My mom tells me to just throw things away and not tell him, but she did that when I was growing up and it was very upsetting to me. She was constantly throwing away things that I needed or wanted. Our house was always clean, but I always felt invaded and upset. I do think my husband would be happy with the end result, but I don't feel right doing things this way. So, should I just declutter my stuff and the school stuff and then hope that when he sees the progress he will jump in full force? He is very adament that I not get rid of the kids' stuff although I am going to thin it out a little (especially clothes and toys). Have any of you dealt with this? Most of my friends' husbands just give them free reign over the house, but that is not the case here. I just really need this clutter to be gone. I feel so anxious when the house is cluttered and it isn't a good example to our kids. They think it is normal to have things everywhere. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Edited July 31, 2012 by kristinannie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cammie Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 My DH is also a packrat. It drives me crazy as I am exactly the opposite!! I do tend to use the time he is away to deal with areas that I know he has no exact idea what is there. However, what it came down to is he has one or two spaces (a drawer in a dresser, a side of a closet) that I don't touch. They drive me crazy, would love to get in there but I know it would push him over the edge! So I leave them alone and try to deal with the rest of the house. (He returned from a business trip today and wanted to know what I did in the bathroom, I had to reassure that only MY stuff had been thinned out and rearranged...all his stuff was still there!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-2-7 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 What about putting all your dh's stuff in boxes in the garage or storage area. Then if he misses any specific thing you can go get it for him. don't let him get in the boxes himself! If not then get rid of it after a month or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraciWA Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Sounds like our husbands are alike. Could you box up the stuff that you would like to declutter and give him a specific time frame to deal with it. If not done in that time then you are free to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Sounds like our husbands are alike. Could you box up the stuff that you would like to declutter and give him a specific time frame to deal with it. If not done in that time then you are free to do it? I have tried this before. I gave him three boxes of things that I thought should go (three boxes when I could have given him 50 :lol:). He was so overwhelmed and upset that I am not sure if anything actually left the house. He did get rid of two bags of clothes last month which was wonderful, but really it was just the tip of the iceberg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraciWA Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Yeah my dh still has a pile of coveralls for work that have been sitting there for a year after I tried putting them in the garage. They just need to be hemmed. They are for work. Couldn't we just cut them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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