Just wanna SCREAM... Mother thinks decluttering her home means send it to mine!

One of my friends just got a deer's head dumped on him by his mom when she moved to Florida. And just to make things even better, she made a huge deal about how it's a family heirloom.

His roommates have had fun sticking it in the shower to scare him and stuff though .

Back on topic, if it's yours you can get rid of it. Since it was officially given to your ds talk with him about what he wants to keep and what he wants to give away/throw out. Help him find space in his room/personal area to keep it and explain the need to get rid of other things to make room.

And then drill him, as much as a 'rehearsed' child is abhorrent "why thank you Grandma, but I really couldn't use those, why don't you donate them?" "why thank you Grandma, but I really couldn't use those, why don't you donate them?"....

Also, if you can get over there yourself and tape the boxes shut and just drive them straight to the dump and tell her that's what she's doing, she might take that hint. Might, but don't hold your breath.

You have my mother! And my MIL!!

We periodically get bushwhacked by both of them and come home from a quick visit with boxes and boxes of stuff. Lo and behold, under the top layer, which usually has some attractive and desirable memory of childhood -- my old Raggedy Ann that my great-grandmother made or dh's childhood Viewfinder -- are things that were never ours and we really don't want or need.

Luckily, what comes in can go out. If someone gives you something, it's yours to do with what you want, especially if you ended up with it because they were cleaning out things *they* no longer wanted. It's more work for us, but sometimes easier than saying no, so we just keep what we want (very little) and freecycle/swap shack/toss the rest. If she gets offended, tough cookies -- she should know better than to strongarm an 8-year-old!

That's my MIL!! She's not gotten to the stage where she uses the kids though. Instead, she plays the "but it's been in the family for ages!" card with DH, which, thanks to the Catholic upbringing, turns the Guilt Faucet on full force!

We have gleaned so much crap from them over the last couple of years. Every time we go visit them, MIL has a "bag" for me of magazine articles, full magazines, recipes, free samples, etc. It used to be sweet that she took the time and effort to put those things together for me, but now it's becoming more like an excuse for her to get rid of stuff without having to throw it away herself! Very rarely do I find anything anymore that relates to our current situation.

To make matters worse, my ILs are moving out of their home and in to an RV this summer, and are therefore trying to get rid of almost all of their posessions on to us! My BIL and his wife don't want it, so we're the next choice. If she calls me and asks if I want something, I just defer to DH, because when I say "no thank you, we're good" she still calls him, wondering how I could possibly turn down such an "important/wonderful/historic" item.

GAH!

But I do love her to pieces, and she's been more of a mom to me than my own mother for the last few years, so it's all worth it in the end, I suppose.

Quote:
I wish I could share your crap-free bliss

MIL still doesn't get it :