Daddy's Fish BowlA Clear View Of A Father's Family Experiences

A Hoarder & His Stuff

For most people, breaking up is hard to do.  Whether it’s breaking up with a lover, a close friend, or a trusted colleague, it is never an easy task.  But what about breaking up with personal belongings?  Is that just as difficult as breaking up with a person?  If you ask Tre, his answer will most certainly be YES!  This past weekend, in preparation for our big move, we attacked out attic, as evidenced in the above photo.  During this 2-3 hour marathon cleaning session, we found old toys, old clothes, old pictures, pretty much just all things old!  But for one member of our family, old meant new and this daunting task turned out to be a 1940’s gold rush for him

As we pulled each item from the attic, Tre ooh’d and ah’d and exclaimed “I need that”.  Based on Tre’s response, you would have thought that the things he so desperately “needed” were age appropriate, state of the art, brand spanking new toys.  But alas, these toys were nothing more than his very own baby toys.  Toys that were stored away and intended to be hand me downs to his future little brother or sister.  Toys that at Tre’s current age, shouldn’t even peak his interest.  But when dealing with a toddler, when is logical thinking ever appropriate?  Let me give you a few examples of the items that were reinstated into Tre’s toy arsenal:

·         crawl and cruise musical jungle – designed to improve crawling & coordination

·         2 step indoor slide – marketed towards children aged 12-18mnths

·         1ft tall basketball hoop – for children ages 6-18mnths

From the small sampling I just listed, you can clearly see that Tre had outgrown all of these toys.  Unfortunately, he was in denial and refused to part with them.  Now I’ve never watched an episode of the TV show “Hoarders”, but I’ve heard stories and seen the commercials.  Based on what I know about that show, I’m inclined to believe that Tre would be a perfect candidate for the “services” that the show provides.  When I started taking the items outside to the backyard, Tre cried and screamed so loud that I thought the neighbors were going to call child protective services on us.  The pitch and volume of his shrieks was deafening.  I couldn’t believe that he got so upset about these old toys.  We tried to explain to him that he doesn’t need those toys anymore because he’s too big, they’re for babies and he’s a big boy now.  Sound logic in my opinion, but the prospect of getting rid of some of his worldly possessions made Tre a force to be reckoned with.  Reasoning with this mad man kid was out of the question.

So now we have a plethora of baby toys crowding out home.  Tre has been playing with them constantly, and I’m afraid that he’s spiraling out of control, losing touch with reality.  Wait, are we talking about Charlie Sheen or Tre here?  At any rate, what was supposed to be an exercise to reduce some of our clutter, ended up adding too it.  At least in the attic these items were tucked away and out of sight.

I’m at a loss, I feel like an enabler, I feel as though I’ve failed my child and have sentenced him to a life of hoarding useless objects until he’s trapped in his own filth.  I need help, professional assistance to help our family through this troubled time.  “Hoarders”, please come in a rescue this 3yr old little boy from an unsavory fate!!!