Declutter now. Your children will thank you.
This past weekend, my husband’s family attempted to move their 92-year-old mom from her two-bedroom independent living dwelling to an assisted living space closer to one of the siblings. She has been in a rehab facility for the last two weeks, and, it is a blessing and pleasure to report that she is doing well and looking forward to this change in venue. As our parents age, many do choose to move closer to family; some of our contemporaries are choosing to move closer to grandkids now.
Of course, prior to any move, one needs to make huge decisions about stuff. Since she was not present to coordinate these efforts, siblings were left to their own devices. I don’t know about your families, but I grew up with two sisters and a brother, having the same parents, living in the same house, going to the same schools, attending the same church, and we are all amazingly different. We very rarely come to the same conclusions about anything! His siblings are like mine; there were very few easy decisions.
Do your families a gigantic favor and start right now to declutter. Do yourself a big favor and stop buying “things.” We are all continuously bombarded by ads: tv, radio, TikTok, Facebook, email, text messages, reminding us of the things we didn’t know we needed to make our lives better. I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets…I have a special tool to cut cauliflower from the core (don’t judge!); I have three crock pots and Instant Pot, just saying.
So, start with paper. The siblings encountered years’ worth of magazines, church bulletins, program booklets concerts and plays, as well as junk mail that should have been recycled rather than saved for later. Here in Gaston County, on Nov. 12, Keep Gastonia Beautiful and Gaston County Solid Waste will host another Shredding Event at the Farmers Market from 8 a.m. until noon.
Important papers that you need to shred must be saved; we offer a mixed paper recycling bin at all County Convenience sites as well as the Farmers Market and Duke Street Recycling Centers. You’d be more than welcome to fill our containers with the mixed paper. A proactive decluttering will be a great help to your family when you get to be the one moved to a new home. This act may take time; when you handle each piece of memorabilia, you, the owner, needs to determine its fate; believe it or not, you heirs will have no affinity for most of your paper.
The next chore will be things: big and little. Suggest ground rules to maybe avoid conflicts, such as listing things you want, if someone else also listed this item, then there needs to be a discussion, otherwise, there is no need to waste time or conversation.
Furniture and some things must accompany Mom to her new abode; find out what will fit and what she would like to bring with her and accommodate as much as possible to make her new home feel familiar. Mom had always been a collector, a habit that is not as popular today. She has collectables such as Hummel’s, Norman Rockwell plates, teacups, spoons, and her most treasured dolls.
These will be hard to home and maybe hard for her to release. If family chooses to not keep, it is worth a call to a professional to determine value, if any. Extra furniture may have sentimental value or may find that a local Habitat Store is the place that someone else could benefit. And of course, all that sentiment holds true for clothing (keep only what fits) and any dining room/kitchen wares, sending the excess to Goodwill or Habitat. We know that someone’s home will be better equipped by those donations.
Speaking of wonderful places to donate, be mindful to only donate useable clothing and items. No one will want heavily used or soiled anything; you then are simply handing off that chore to the donation center.
Recycle all that you can, find home for things that you can, but in the end be responsible to toss what has no more value. And from this end of things, be careful of what you buy to begin with!
Nan Kirlin is recycling coordinator for Gaston County.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Declutter now. Your children will thank you.
