If you have adult DC have they taken their stuff?

[YourLittleSecret]

Prompted by reading a thread on downsizing and de-cluttering.
I think it's reasonable to keep all their stuff while they are renting but as soon as they buy then I think they should take it.

Then it comes down to the sentimental things like teddies and toys.
I have kept a selection of good quality toys like lego and brio but I also have huge bags of teddies which I am now tempted to get rid of.

On dear this is me. Yes I should take my stuff. Still haven’t got round to it 😬

In my defence I much prefer to spend time with my parents when I go to visit than sifting through old cupboards.

I can’t get rid of the adult dc let alone their stuff 😂

boomerang generation…

I'm 52. There's a lot of stuff at my parents' still...

I allowed DC to leave any of their things in their own rooms but when they bought their own house I told them they should move most of stuff within 6 months. That felt fair as it gave them the to unpack and get organised. They still have PJ's and change of clothes and toiletries in their rooms at home and a few other bits but hard top on Mazda finally gone. My son still has a few things in garage that are car related as he does not have a garage.

I took my stuff when I bought my house, my mum had kept bags of polly pockets and books - she was offended I didn't want to take them (I had no clue she'd saved them!) and I wanted to bin / charity shop them. She's kept them because she doesn't want me to get rid of them 😂

We got rid of the teddies it's ridiculous to keep them I washed and donated them they have taken stuff over the years although we have been left with a cupboard full of Cds/dvds that I don't know what to do with 🤔

I moved house last year. I have dormer bungelow and very limited attic space now. I said to kids , who are both still in rented, that I could only hold onto 1 box of stuff each. They came for visit before I moved and actually were very good at whittling all their junk down to just a few boxes. I sold a few things for them (scaletrix, amps etc) but the rest went to recycle. I did say to them that certain things they could photograph rather than keep original and I think that helped a lot with stuff like school work they were proud off, some school craft makes that really, they would never display in their own homes but we’re keeping becuase of sentimental reasons..they realised photos actually meant they could more easily look at the stuff.
it was a fun couple of days..they set up the scaleltrix a last time and had a few races, and had a good laugh reading old school stuff. And a few beers helped🤣
ive since streamlined my own memory boxes I’d made of their childhood with what they kept. 2 boxes each. I’ll keep until they’re in their own homes and hand over.

So tell the, you’re thinking of moving and you’ll throw out in excess of 1 box each 🤣🤣🤷🏼‍♀️

God, I wish. I desperately wanted to take/donate/throw out my stuff when I left home and moved abroad, but DM wouldn't let me. She's now hoarding all my things in a damp garage, so god knows what state they're in.

She also kept toys and clothes from when I was a baby and was massively offended when I didn't want to take them.

but hard top on Mazda finally gone. Ah yes, I have the giant bass speaker that was in his first car.

Well youngest (23) has boomeranged back 3 times so far and comes home for weekends quite often, so his room is still semi lived in.

DS1(25) bought his own place a couple of years ago and I boxed up a lot of his belongings and said he could either throw it away or put it in his loft instead of mine. Though I still seem to have quite a bit - bookcase full of books , not little childrens books but ones he had in late teens so I feel they are his really.

There are also boxes of what they hoarded as children, concert tickets, trophies, souveniers.

My DM would probably say we’ve collected it all, however I still have hats and shoes stored in the attic but behind more obvious things. DH already thinks I have too many shoes, but they keep
coming back into fashion.

DB and I (50s and both home owners for 25+ years) still have stuff at our parents house which is much bigger than either or ours. I can't speak for DB but I'd happily bin all mine, it's only a couple of shelves-worth but DM doesn't want me to.

No! Eldest is 29 and left home at least 5 years ago. Books, DVDs etc mainly. She has a small flat and just doesn’t have room.
Youngest is flat hunting as we speak, his room and my spare room are full of his stuff. He’ll need a massive flat!

I’m 27 and have all my stuff except children’s toys my parents are saving for grandchildren (either from me or my sibling - neither of us has DC yet). DP has loads of stuff at his parents’ because he keeps procrastinating sorting through it but they send us back with a bag every time we visit. His intention is to have it all over here at some point!

A different perspective, and in case anyone has any similar ideas... don't do it! My partner got all of his stuff from his parents when we bought a house a couple of years back. Since then, my in-laws won't stop giving us all the child-related stuff that they've hoarded over the years in their attic and garage. Their opinion - it used to belong to my partner, and although it was them that didn't want to get rid of it at the time, now we have children it should naturally be taken back by my partner. My house and the local tip are full of second hand baby-related tat!

My dad moved house and made us take our stuff. Well, what he actually did was put it in piles and invited us to to collect what we wanted, then he got rid of the rest for us.

my in-laws have stuff still, I’ve begged them to just get rid of it as the subject comes up every so often but they won’t. My husband does not need it back!

@CatSeany Good point.
I think the things accumulated during childhood really belong to the parents. Probably after early teens then the DC should have the option of keep v bin.

Except .. teddies. Last time I threatened to get rid of the teddies, which fill a dustbin bag each, it was as though I was cancelling their childhood😭. Yet they still didn't want to take them.

One of ours has moved out but we still have his spare x boxes and his room is still set up as his room minus the computer which has moved with him . Our dog uses it as his bedroom now and is very affronted when our son visits and he has to share his double bed .

I still have beany babies and prom dresses and boxes of their mementoes. Things are gradually leaving as my grandchildren reach the right age for them. I will have to be ruthless I actually do move rather than just muttering about it.

I am in my 50s, and when I left home all my stuff that I wanted was moved within a week. I was warned anything I didn't take would be found a new home. 🤣

But all my worldly possessions at that point fitted into a dozen bin bags!

DC are all in their thirties and live in flats with little storage. They've all left stuff they can't bear to part with but don't have space for. I've kept toys for the DGC to play whenever they stay here.

Somehow I never manage to get round to issuing an ultimatum, much as I want to do a Swedish Death Clean and live a more minimalist life.

DCs' stuff includes,
Drumkit, guitars, books, nintendo, xboxes, monitors, re-enacting uniforms and weapons, models, drawing-board, bicycles, windsurfing board, old electric organ too heavy to move, stamp collections, birthday cards, crt tvs, ancient monitors, pc that will miraculously burst back into life if abandoned for long enough.....

DGC have loads of old toys here, board games, lego, playmobil, and I just hope I will be able to part with it all once they're outgrown it.

I have loads of my eldest's stuff still. But given the impossibility of young ones round here getting an affordable house with space, it's going to have to stay here for a while. She could only afford a teeny tiny terraced cottage, with no garage or storage space.

She has great taste and accumulated some really lovely stuff as a late teen/young adult and I wouldn't want to get rid of it. One day hopefully she'll have a house that will really show it off.

I forgot we still have a few things in the garage that they can't store in their flat.

We’ve still got lots of dds’ stuff, esp. textbooks and uni stuff. They’ve got their own homes but we have more space so I don’t mind.

We kept quite a few of the favourite teddies (Gdcs love them) but dh took a lot to Battersea Dogs’ Home - the dogs like them! Nothing with polystyrene bead stuffing though.

Yes! Mine haven't reached this stage yet but I'm already dreaming of this day. Problem for us is that 2 have just graduated, one has moved back full time and one has dumped her worldly goods because she can't take them to her tied accommodation

I ruthlessly cleared out my loft one bank holiday weekend and I kid you not my daughter phoned on the following Wednesday to say she and her partner were going travelling and letting out their flat, so could I store some stuff. Needless to say,over a decade later,most of it is still up there.