The kids have moved out, but their stuff hasn’t!
When young people move out from home – either for college terms or more permanently – parents often find themselves looking after their offspring’s collections until, in theory, their owners move into a large enough space to be able to take them away.
In practice these days with property prices too high for a first-time buyer and space in flats limited the chances are the parental home remains the storage facility.
Another growing trend is for young adults to either move back in with the parents or stay living in the family home into their twenties.
Whatever the circumstances, the chances are that their stuff has remained in the family home.
Excuses? We’ve heard a few!
Unless we’re superbly disciplined and practice minimalism, we are all hoarders to an extent. Just check the accumulation of crockery and cookware in the average kitchen and consider how much of it is actually used regularly.
The problem of hoarding is often compounded with young people by the desire to hang on to loved toys from childhood.
When challenged, the excuses range from “it’ll all be worth something in the future” “I’ll sell it all online to collectors” to promises to get around to sorting it out eventually.
But there it all stays until the time comes when perhaps retirement is approaching and parents are looking for a smaller, lower-maintenance home. What to do then?
You can try threats or appeals to the owners’ better nature – such as suggesting giving it away to charity, where it will go to children whose families might otherwise not be able to afford toys and games.
If you have the time and energy you could perhaps arrange to sell items online yourself – and keep the proceeds!
Or, how about putting it all in rented storage space and presenting them with the bills?