The Pantry/Laundry Room

18 years ago

my pantry/laundry room is just off the kitchen. It's not a big room but it has room for a pantry on one whole wall, side/side refrig & freezer, recycling center on the second and on the thrid wall stackable washer/dryer and cupboard for storage for laundry etc.

my problem, I'm allergic to dust and just out of the hospital with pnemonia and an asthma attack, oh don't forget the sinsus infection. Excuses, excuses!! Anyway, my DD, Tanya came over to wash everything down and get rid of the dust. naturally, while cleaning she orgnized everything. She threw out a lot of containers that I was keeping for ??. I told her they had to be hid or her father would take them out of the garbage to save. He saves even more than I do.

The day I came home from the hospital I wanted to make chili but I couldn't find any beans so I made goulash instead. Tanya found six reg, sized cans of kidney beans and one large can. She said "Ma, you don't ever have to buy canned peaches again." Yep, she found six large cans of peaches. (What is it with the number six?)

She also found three and a half two-lb bags of confectionery sugar. She took two bags home with her. I'm diabetic and really don't need the extra sugar.

then she got into my recipes which are stored on the shelves of the recycling center. She wanted me to go thru them right there but I chickened out. I don't know what she did but even with the mess I had there, she neatened it up. Is that a word?

My laundry /pantry really looks nice. And my kid is a blessing. She babies me when I need it and gets ruthless when I need that too.

together we filled a large box of stuff to take to the reuse center. And my DH didn't save anything out of the box

shirley

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Comments (7)

marie26
18 years ago
Kids are great when it comes to being ruthless. About those recipes: if your daughter doesn't want them for at least their memories and you will not cook from them, I'd say it's time to let some of them go.

Sometimes I think the only things that are important to keep are those items we know our kids will definitely want one day.
talley_sue_nyc
18 years ago
what a great kid!

it sounds like you hit your limit--I think during decluttering, we all hit a point at which we get scared; we feel like we're letting go of too much, it starts to feel out-of-control, we fear we'll have regrets, we start to feel guilty (at rejecting the stuff and at having hung onto it at all).

That's when it's time to stop (or, push on just a little bit, but stop). If we go beyond our "scare point," I think we can discourage ourselves from doing it again.

Bcs you stopped where you did, you can have ONLY great results. Then, when you get brave enough to go through the recipes, in the next session, you can bring into it the great feelings and have them empower you. If you were bringing in regrets and guilt, you might not be as powerful the next time.

So pick a date to do those recipes; you'll surprise yourself at how many of them you don't really need. (just don't do it at a time when you're hungry, LOL!)
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andrea345
18 years ago
There really is nothing like another set of eyes to help us see what's really in front of us.

Why don't you pick a recipe you'd like to cook or bake for your daughter in thanks? Give the recipe a reason for being.

Take care,
-a
jannie
18 years ago
Went down in my mom's basement. Saw a green plastic gabage can with lid on tight. Looked inside- nineteen 5-lb bags of sugar. That's 95 pounds! Good lord, the woman is 82 and blind and cannot walk.
shirleyinadirondacks
Original Author
18 years ago
wow, Jannie,

is she making her own booze(joke-joke)?

I tend to have the same mind set. My DH worked at a seasonal job for years, so I always stocked up when he was working. Now I have trouble not stocking up. That could be why she has so much stored.

shirley
steve_o
18 years ago
If your mom is 82, she was in her 20s during the Great Depression. It likely had an impact on her that she internalized for the rest of her life. It's very common for those who lived through that period to "hoard" because ... well, it might happen again someday.

(I saw the same with my ex's mother and aunts, who were the same age, and I even see a little of that with my mother, who was born during the Depression.)
jannie
18 years ago
Yes, my mother did have a hard childhood. Her father died young,this was before Social Security, and her mother made their home into a boarding house. When she was a young married woman with four kids,my Dad was unemployed a lot due to illness. So she always bought food on sale and kept a full pantry. But now that she's elderly and infirm, it seems a little unnecessary. I try to watch out for my own hoarding behavior. I am also a clutter-bug, which I am certain was inheirited from both of my parents.The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.