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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My mother's incessant hoarding on my son's behalf. Aibu

185 replies

HarleyQuinn33 · 06/12/2020 04:26

Background;. Growing up I lived in old clothes, clothes from bags that people donated to us, boys clothes, my middle aged aunts old clothes, shoes 3 sizes too big with cotton wool stuffed in the end. Home made hair cuts. Etc. My mother had a good job but she had a problem with spending any money on us. As an adult, I have no problem with second hand things but do like to like to have choice now and for the things I have to be quality. My in-laws and friends have given my baby nice quality things so I am lucky and well stocked as a new mum.

Current issue: When I became pregnant my mother started asking me if I wanted my cousin's old baby clothes. I said no, she would sit and try and persuade me, I said no again. She would then ask if I wanted her other friends old baby gym, clothes, baby plates etc and everything else, I said maybe just the gym. She continues to talk and try to persuade me to take everything despite me saying I don't need it all. I eventually keep saying I don't need it all and she says ok. I find out a few weeks later she has asked her friend to drop the baby clothes off at the house despite me saying no to them. I got a bit cross at this point because she just didn't listen and I ask her to please respect my wishes and no more things for the baby thank you we already have enough. A few weeks later my father tells me she went to buy a second hand buggy, bag of clothes and mattress from people from gumtree. I was fuming at this point because she apparently has ignored my wishes. The buggy is dirty and old and my mother tries to insist she will just hose off all the grime.

Fast forward, my child is newborn, she presents a bag of girls clothes to me and insists my son wear the items and that it's all ok. I say no but she protests. Later my father slips up and tells me my mother has a garage and shed full of stuff for my son. I am picturing more baby stuff, but he says there are bikes in there, baby walkers, chairs and tables etc. All piled up that she has asked friends to donate for my son. She gets cross because apparently this was a secret between my father and her.

Am I being unreasonable to be fuming right now? I don't know what to do anymore she just won't listen. When I try to say no to anything she twists it and tells me I am not environmentally friendly, she came from a poor family and had nothing, etc. Etc.

OP posts:
butterpuffed · 06/12/2020 08:50

Your mother knows that something isn't right or she wouldn't have tried to keep quiet about the hoarding . Try to talk to your father about it again, maybe he didn't realise how much it's affecting you.

user1471538283 · 06/12/2020 08:50

The thing is safety has moved on considerably and whether or not you would want a second hand mattress or buggy for your child you cannot. Would she understand this? Also your child is exactly that YOURS. You will do the choosing. In her head she probably thinks that a second hand big item would be as excitedly received as a new one but it is not.

All you can do is to keep on saying no. She is getting around her mental health issues by thinking and saying it's for you.

It's really upsetting for you. She is stealing the pleasure away from both you and her in choosing something new. My Dad bought DS his first bike and the look on both their faces when DS saw it and used it every single day still makes me emotional. She's missing out on this!

PersonaNonGarter · 06/12/2020 08:50

OP, You’ve had good advice here - especially about the counselling. It is all about control.

I think your father is really trying to help but you need to be brutal with them. Absolutely brutal. Tell them they are not to give your child anything secondhand. That’s it. End of Story. No more emotional bandwidth is getting taken up with their crap.

Then stick to it 100% - even if you could use the item and it is fine. Be very rude about any gifts that aren’t new. Hand them back. Tell them you won’t visit if they try to give you stuff. Don’t let them into your house with secondhand stuff.

saraclara · 06/12/2020 08:51

What's your father doing about this?

He needs to step up. Her friends need to be asked not to give her stuff as you don't need it. And you literally don't let her through your door if she has any bags in her hand.

"Mum, I don't need that stuff and I don't have room for it. Please put it back in your car, or you can't come in"

She has a huge problem here. He's enabling her, and in talking her stuff, so would you be. Those around her need to be told of the issue so they don't keep giving her stuff. It sounds cruel but nothing's going to change otherwise.

RegretnaGreen · 06/12/2020 08:51

Hoarding is a form of OCD so a diagnosable condition. Her behaviour towards you is appalling. It sounds like she has told all her friends that you have nothing and are a charity case which is embarrassing as hell.

I think I would put something in writing now. A demand that if you say no. She is not to push her agenda. We have hoarders in the family and their behaviour is destructive.

BreatheAndFocus · 06/12/2020 09:00

Tell her that she’s depriving people more in need of these things by hoarding them for you. Tell her you don’t want anything that’s not new - not clothes, not buggies or other baby equipment, not toys. Be specific and repeat if necessary.

Hopefully your dad will give her a similar message and push her into arranging for the garage to be cleared. Saying that other people need them more is a kinder message than some ways of saying No.

goldenharvest · 06/12/2020 09:00

Your mother has a type of hoarding issue. Let your father deal with it. Just return anything she brings that you don’t want and tell your parents you don’t want to add to your mothers problems and will therefore accept nothing second hand from them. Nothing at all

diddl · 06/12/2020 09:02

I like the idea of not buying brand new all the time, but obviously the stuff still has to be presentable, safe & wanted/needed by the parents!

Perhaps any useful stuff could be kept there for visits?

But anything that wouldn't be wanted at all or not for a few years should surely just be got rid of?

AgentJohnson · 06/12/2020 09:06

Your mother’s hoarding and your son aren’t connected, he’s just an excuse she uses to explain her hoarding away. You’re going to have to be a broken record about refusing her unsolicited gifts and warn her that her behaviour is having a negative impact on your relationship with her.

Lordamighty · 06/12/2020 09:08

Normally I would say it’s great that second hand clothes & toys are being re-used but in your DMs case you should just issue a flat no to anything she tries to give you that’s second hand.
She clearly has a problem & is using your child as an excuse to increase the extent of her hoarding.

ILoveYourLittleHat · 06/12/2020 09:11

Don't pretend to "think about" accepting anything, don't do deals where you accept one thing, just keep saying no to it all and that you won't be able to take anything at all.

My mum's absolutely not a hoarder but was so keen to get things for her first grandchild we got loads of stuff (I'm grateful, lots was useful) so i can easily imagine how it gets out of control. Mine does at least ask now if she should get X that she saw in a charity shop.

thevanguard a bag full of leggings cutoffs!? At least you didn't have to wonder if you were missing out on anything useful!?

Nobdienowhere · 06/12/2020 09:12

I had this. For years.
My eventual stance was that I had no room for the stuff, but she was more than welcome to use it at her house when we visited.
Occasional reminders aside, it has been ok-ish.

DamsonInGin · 06/12/2020 09:12

Oh dear - it is so difficult.
I recently helped my DM move Josue and she cried when I refused to take old bath mats from 1972 that she hasn't used for 15 years.

We had a long conversation that probably didn't have much impact about giving to charity, how something still usable doesn't need to be in my house and that a charity shop will make money 'yipee' someone who wants a green bathmat will get one for very little money. Then the bathmat is earning it's keep for what it was made for and not sitting in my garage for ten years. I'm hoin to keep going with this, and indeed now I think about it the bag of curtains I have saved may well make someone else really happy. The better quality the harder to get rid, but if you think about it, the better for who you're giving it to.

I think maybe we all fight this demon a little bit.

Michellebops · 06/12/2020 09:14

I feel for you! My mil is exactly the same.
In my daughters 5 years she has purchased 6 buggies from the charity shop in all different colours and conditions, missing hoods, flat tyres. I donated some on and got rid of others. She buys something every week with parts missing and it drives me crazy.
I'm left with having to store and dispose.
She still buys boys clothes that are cheap and usually in the wrong size.
She just doesn't listen to our protests.
She only sees our daughter one day a week (her choice at her house) despite living 2 streets away and part of our bubble.
Her house is full of hoarding crap too.
Be firm and tell her to stop! Good luck

mooncakes · 06/12/2020 09:15

I would hold a really firm boundary with your mum of not accepting any of this stuff.

If you sometimes accept some things, it just muddies the waters.

Say no to everything. Don't allow a single bag of second hand clothes to cross your threshold, don't agree to have a look through anything and pick out the good bits, don't accept anything and charity shop it later.

Tell her now, you don't want anything second hand for Christmas.

It might sounds harsh/extreme, but I think you need to be really clear with no room for interpretation or loopholes.

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 06/12/2020 09:20

It sounds sad. particularly if she is on a limited budget as recently retired.
Can you liaise with your father on the best strategies to help her?

Dozer · 06/12/2020 09:22

Agree with PPs saying it’s best to set, inform them of and stick to a firm boundary of not accepting anything second hand from your mother, or people she’s asked to give you stuff. Also specifying boundaries on new, wrapped gifts, eg no more than 2/3 items.

If people turn up, you can politely decline and explain your mother has a ‘hoarding / hoarding by proxy’ issue.

Would encourage her to seek help with her mental health, and your father to support this and/or seek advice for himself.

30mph · 06/12/2020 09:23

She's ill. Your father needs to step up.

TwentyViginti · 06/12/2020 09:24

The older generation have also lived through food rationing etc

Rationing ended in 1954.

MargosKaftan · 06/12/2020 09:24

There is nothing wrong with 2nd hand clothes.

However, if you accept any 2nd hand clothes or items from your mum, she'll be "right" to have collected this stuff.

So the line is, you'll take nothing. Phone your dad, be clear- he should have dealt with the way she dressed you as a child, and he can stop enabling her and deal with this now, or he will lose a relationship with you and his grandson.

Your mum might have had a poor childhood, your dad doesn't have that excuse. He chose to take the easy path and let his wife dress his dc in inappropriate sized clothes. If he tries to take the easy path of not standing up to her about this, he'll lose you and his dgs.

Many people with mental health issues around hoarding can not get better while they are being enabled.

OptimisticSix · 06/12/2020 09:25

My dad is similar but on a much smaller scale and I just take everything now, and when he's gone I take it all to the charity shop. It is easier for me though as I don't see him very often.

I did try saying no quite a few times but it obviously hurt his feelings and I just couldn't do it anymore.

lovemylot1 · 06/12/2020 09:30

Twentyviginti

Yes and some of our parents were growing up then!
Also there were blackouts and shortages in the 70s.

Haffiana · 06/12/2020 09:32

OP, the thing with a hoarder is that you can be as blunt as you like with them and it won't make any difference. They have a mental illness, a compulsion.

So let her twist it everything, let her rationalise it etc etc. What you don't have to do is feel guilty at all in saying no as forcefully as necessary. All your problems comes from your reactions to her.

What is needed is to step back. This is her illness and you do not have to respond to it. Your father has made that mistake, perfectly understandably, and is now trapped in her web of delusion. The only way out for him would have been to leave her, and he probably loves her too much to do that.

You have 'left' her. You have made your own life. If you can step back in yourself and separate from your guilt reactions then you can have the relationship you want with her and not be forced to have a relationship with her illness.

TwentyViginti · 06/12/2020 09:34

Also there were blackouts and shortages in the 70s.

I was working then, by candlelight during the electric cut offs.. No one took to hoarding that I knew of!

It's a mental illness.

Peregrina · 06/12/2020 09:38

I wouldn't blame the Dad; he's got to live with it full time. Maybe he's telling you this stuff as a plea for help and you might be able to find a way to join forces to stem the tide.

You won't stop it - I know from bitter experience from coming from a family with a long line of hoarders in it. The "lived through the war excuse" is just that. DM used this one all the time. DF lived through the same war, and wasn't a hoarder.

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