So I have this problem, right? I throw things out. Any things, all things, if it's not nailed down there is always a chance it will end up missing. I might eBay it, I might give it to charity, or if I don't see that there's any further use for it, it goes straight in the bin.
This can cause quite a bit of drama. My poor children have lost God only knows how many toys because of my problem. They now know that if they can't find something, it most likely went to "A kid who has less things than they do" or... *cue ominous music* INTO THE FIRE! If you haven't seen Toy Story 3 then you wouldn't be aware of the scene were all of the toys are at the tip and they're heading straight for the furnace. My children now know that this is where toys go to die. Especially McDonalds Happy Meal toys. Because, my God, those stupid fucking things are worth about $0.50 and they insist on keeping EVERY SINGLE ONE. Really? REALLY? You have hundreds of dollars worth of toys and you want to keep the ones that come for free with a cheeseburger? REALLY?
We've also run into trouble when I've absent-mindedly thrown out power cords or chargers, simply because they'd been hanging around for a while, getting on my nerves. Everything should have a home you see, and if it's homeless for too long then one might assume that it needs to go... in the bin... right?
I was thinking to myself, surely there's a name for this? So I turned to the fountain of all knowledge, Google, and I asked,
"what is the opposite of hoarding?"
And Google directed me to the ever-so-intellectual site Wisegeek which provided me with this definition:
The opposite of hoarding might be obsessive-compulsive spartanism. This term seems to have developed on the Internet to describe people who habitually throw possessions out or give them away.
And I thought, well fuck me. I'm owning that shit. I'm not OCD. I'm not a clean freak. I don't have a problem. I'm just an Obsessive Compulsive Spartan baby, don't hold it against me! How badass does that sound? I love it!
 |
| I AM OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE SPARTA! {Image source} |
Are you a keeper or a tosser?
I'm not a tosser exactly, but I toss more than I keep. My son is a keeper. I worry he'd be a hoarder.
ReplyDeleteI actually refuse Happy Meal toys. I despise them far more than is reasonable. I will deliberately order the boys a Happy Meal, ask them to keep the toy back and then take the boys and buy them something else. That is how much I hate them. {That way I'm not a mean Mama, but I still don't have to step over/trip over/step on the freaking things}.
We have far too much stuff in our house, but I cannot bring myself to throw out power cords - what if I need them for something? It appears I have passed my affliction to my kids - the Big Sister can't part with recycling. House swap for a week? :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I even have to answer this. I am a keeper, but I am becoming more of a tosser the older I get, especially now with Mia and all her junk, we can't all have junk so something has to go and I guess it will be Dave and I's junk! We have too much anyway!
ReplyDeleteOCS sounds way better than 'hoarding' lol... i'm a little bit in the middle of both, as long as the hoarding side doesn't get messy or unorganised then i'm good.
ReplyDeleteLove it! You are such the bad ass! Suits you to a T! Or an OCS :)
ReplyDeleteYou would hate me, though. I'm a keeper - magazines, shoes, all sorts of stupid memorabilia. My husband and I are constantly fighting about what to throw out. I say nothing. He says, of course, everything...
Every so often I am a tosser... hehe... i just toss everything... and then i hoard... kind of like a cycle...i feel like i am always cleaning the clutter!
ReplyDeleteI am a tosser… who keeps stuff. Sound like a contradiction? I am one. Love this Kellacus - you badass. Wanna come round and clean out my toy drawers? Little L has the hoarding gene I fear.. she keeps icecream wrappers, thinking she could maybe use them for 'craft'. Craft my arse. She turns her back, they're in the bin. SLAM.
ReplyDeleteIn my alternate child free world….this would be me :-) I daydream about a clutter free life!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was going to be a post about ab work outs.
ReplyDeleteThose bloody macca toys - drive me mental - but can't throw them out - especially not Puss in Boots, My Little Pony, or that dude of Hotel Transylvania (sp?) I've been a keeper but totally going to toss - there's way too much shit in my house :(
ReplyDeleteKelly, I am a keeper/hoarder while hubby is like you-to say he likes minimalism is an understatement. Big fights about throwing things out but we always seem to be throwing my stuff or the kids stuff out. His possessions seem to stay in intact in their special homes/places around the house. Lisa @ MummyManifesto
ReplyDeleteI have hoarding tendencies- I need someone like you around to convince me to throw things away...
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to throw things away but more likely to just hide it out of my view so I can deal with it another day. Fast Food toys never get given to the kid (well not by me) I hate those cheap crappy plastic things and they end up in the bin if I find them. I have compulsive clean up days though where I chuck everything and once a year we sort out toys for the poor children. Probably not too PC to use that term these days.
ReplyDeleteOh Lord! I have this utter recurring fear that I will end up like those Hoarders on that show. I have hoarder tendencies but I am actively fighting them. I throw away some piece of plastic shit every day. Yay for me!
ReplyDeleteOMG Is that how it's called! I have the same problem... But I don't think I have a problem (I'm in denial, hahaha)!
ReplyDeleteI stopped ordering Happy Meals for the kids and started ordering 6-piece McNugget meals. They barely need the crap food, let alone the crap toy!!
ReplyDeleteSnap - I've just started doing that in the past few months! x
ReplyDeletehaha you and I are two peas in a pod - except I refuse to let those Maccas toys even come through the front door. They can play with them in the car and then every now and then they disappear ;)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely me. My mom is a terrible hoarder. Not like piles of trash, but just stuff. No floors, no dining room table. It was awful growing up in it. And, I was just as bad until maybe 16/17 years old? Then a switch flipped and everything had to go. All my stuffed animals. My toys that sat around collecting dust. My homework assignments from all the way back to kindergarten. My mom got worried and asked if I was suicidal. I told her, 'No, I was just sick of the clutter and there was no need for it.' And I'm still that way to this day. It's a bit of a struggle with my husband whose more of a hoarder himself, but with enough convincing and reassuring that he can always buy another one if there ever comes a time when he needs it again, I can usually get him to let go of stuff. I just feel, if you have a brand new flat screen tv, then why is the old boxey one still sitting around gathering dust? Donate it to Goodwill so a family who can't afford a fancy flat screen right now can still enjoy tv shows like everyone else.
ReplyDelete