To just get rid of it all?

[Hoardernomore]

So far this week I’ve got rid of 18 bags of rubbish / recycling / stuff for charity shop from our average sized house. I’m still going.
I’ve got rid of christening cards, scan photos, wedding cards, thanks you cards, Mother’s Day cards, baby memory boxes, new baby stuff and momentoes. All gone. Drawings by the kids, photos, hand made stuff from school and nursery.
Also gone are all my books and cds, toys my children don’t use, random stuff we’ve accumulated like wires that I have no idea of their purpose anymore.
My gran died last year and she’d kept so much, and we had to chuck most of it. I’ve concluded it is all just stuff, at some point it has to be thrown away and actually it’s easier for me to do it than my children once I’m dead.

My friend thought I’d lost the plot when I told her everything had gone. Aibu? I just think it’s stuff. It’s all pointless really.

Wow, I could never get rid of all that! Especially the kids cards and home made stuff. I am a bit soppy, but still, it’s something to show your children when they grow older. My little one loves looking at the stuff she did at nursery

Oh and the scan photos too? Memory box? So so sad :(

Let it all go! The less you have the clearer your head will be. I promise you!! We're brainwashed to think we need all this 'stuff' but we really don't.

Hiphopfrog I would dispute who was actually brainwashed, the keepers or the chuckers/

I did this recently, I kept some sentimental drawings and some baby things which are in the attic now all boxed up - just a small box mind!, but most things have gone, its liberating!!

When our mum died she was in rented accommodation and we had to hand it back within 2 weeks of her dying. My oldest sister took a vanity case with all the family photos. At some stage her husband cleared their loft out and threw it away.
I have 1 photograph of me and my twin sister with our parents aged about 3 months.
Feels like my whole childhood has disappeared as photos are a way of remembering your past.

There's a big difference between clutter like old bills, and things that are part of who you are (for want of a better phrase), IMHO. Eg, I have my grandpa's diary from when he served in WW2. He passed away almost 20 years ago now. Having his diary, something he physically wrote in when he was just a young man, far from home, and away from his family, something he carried with him every day... It's an honour - can't think of the right word! - to have something like that, and I couldn't contemplate ever chucking anything like that out. It's a talking point, something to look at with DC etc, it's a historical thing as well as being personal.

I agree with PPs as well: it would be impossible to keep every piece of artwork our DC ever created, but what's wrong with keeping one box of important stuff that shows them parts of their life story, especially bits they might not remember? I think things like that aren't just possessions or clutter, they're more than than that.

I occasionally have a mad throwing out session, but I've actually really regretted throwing out some of the stuff. You may be sick of seeing it at the moment, whilst it's still fresh in your mind, but in 30 years time when you open a box full of childhood / sentimental stuff, it may bring back happy memories that have long been buried.

I now can't remember some of the items I know I threw out clearly, and would like to look at them again! I think we underestimate how much life changes and we lose track of old selves.

I think it's best to keep key bits of sentimental items - particular cards, medals, etc. You can be ruthless in this, but it doesn't have to mean saying goodbye to every item.

MY children's stuff belongs to them -that includes scan photos.

Our house is full of books - I had a cull 5 years ago and got rid of thousands of books -I love browsing and picking a book in an evening. I love how my kids have huge bookcases and I find them in a wigwam with their nose in a book -that is one of life's pleasures.

I'm a hoarder.

Also, keeping some sentimental things from your child's childhood may help to show a child how much you cared. You cared enough to save some of their drawings from a scrapbook or note funny phrases they said!

My parents were quite self-absorbed people and I felt emotionally alone within my childhood. Sometimes they acted like we were an inconvenience to them. I know my Mum had kept some items, but when my parents split it all went 'missing' (binned!). About sums up their attitude tbh.

My dh and I do the same as you with cards. Anniversary birthday and Christmas. Bought cards with lot of pages I so we could do just that. One card with lots of memories from when I'm no longer here. Dh can get them out and read them. Memory boxes--I've kept all sorts of little things from when the girls were small and Im making a memiet5box for each of them to have on my demise. They can choose to keep them rmto treasure or get rid. Lots of fond memories for them to treasure

My DH died in February and I am just getting round to clearing out some of his stuff: boxes and boxes of paperbacks that I am never going to read and the DCs don't want, DVDs similarly, and some of his clothes that he hadn't worn for years, new clothes that he had never worn. Also training stuff from his work. Technical books and magazines, nearly all years out of date. He was a hoarder and kept everything. Feel very guilty. I can't bring myself to touch his everyday wardrobe, it still smells of him, and I can't let it go just yet.

YANBU

It's liberating.
No point in being sentimental about "stuff".
And it's so nice to have a house without clutter :)

I love having a clear out - it always makes me feel like I'm starting afresh.

Another thing that makes decluttering hard for me is, well all those NWT clothes, I keep thinking I can sell these on eBay.

But then most don’t sell anyway.

You cared enough to save some of their drawings
Or maybe she cares enough not to want her kids to have piles of stuff to sort through in the future? Neither is right or wrong, or a proof of caring, they are just different attitudes. Of course some people need/want to hang on to everything, but to others it is just stuff and it feels liberating to let go of it. If her children wish she hadn't, I am sure they'll come to terms with it, because feeling loved is about BEING loved, not about having a parent who keeps your drawings.

Well done you!
You don’t need all that stuff in your home.
My mum and dad keep very limited sentimental items and now I’m married and in my home I do the same. There is no reason to keep everything. If you don’t need or want it it has to go. We accumulate all our lives we simply can’t keep everything. De cluttered home equals de cluttered mind!
Keep going!!!

MenaMecca you need to google Sunk Cost Fallacy.

My parents were quite self-absorbed people and I felt emotionally alone within my childhood. Sometimes they acted like we were an inconvenience to them. I know my Mum had kept some items, but when my parents split it all went 'missing' (binned!). About sums up their attitude tbh.

I'm so grateful my GPs saves lots of my stuff (in the shed). I really enjoyed reading through some of my old work from school etc.

I had a mighty clear-out like this and I've regretted bitterly things I threw out in the hysterical compulsive fit and cannot ever replace. Old utility bills, old greetings cards from living friends, flyers because the subject looks a maybe - yes, tip the lot. Books? Diaries? Personal mementos? No. I burned many of my husband's things when he passed because it upset me so much to see them. His specs, his shopping lists, the little love notes he'd leave me. I was trying to rid myself of the pain, I can see that now. All I did was lay up regret for myself. I learned to throw things out only when they have no meaning at all for me.

I get rid of stuff all the time but each child has a box and in there are their baby books, first outfits, scan pictures etc. I don’t keep stuff I dint use but couldn’t get rid of stuff like that. Artwork etc I keep a few bits not all of it though!

I treasure my scan pictures, even though they are 20 years old now and looking a bit yellow. Also I've kept some art work from when the kids were little, I could never throw them away.
I lost my mum when I was young and I still have a birthday card I sent to her with a very long soppy message on .. still breaks my heart when I read it.
Cherish your memories and always keep the things that mean so much to you x

I’ve just helped clear a close relative’s house and we got rid of masses. About 10 carloads to charity shops, the same to the dump. I kept some books and china but I don’t like clutter at the best of times. YANBU.

It is of course entirely up to you but, speaking as someone who lost their mum when they were 18, I would have loved my mum to have kept all that stuff. I have some bits and pieces but not enough. I have kept so much for my daughter. That way, if I’m not around when she is older then she will have lots of things to look at and hopefully lots of fond memories.