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Are you 100% sure that none of the kids want any of these things? I would have been pretty upset if my parents through out any of my childhood toys etc. without even asking me. Assuming you've asked and they definitely don't want any of these things, then by all means get a plastic bin for each child and save the things that mean the most to you or that you suspect they might want some day. And donate the rest.
Agreed, I would pay a lot of money just to see my childhood toys again.
We always seems ot have extra storage space. Attic, basement, closets, carriage house, etc. I am trying to sort out the good stuff, unique clothing, costumes, special toys that are not broken. Put those away for the grandkids.
Our kids loved having my old stuff from Grandma and Grandpa's. 80s party? All set - original 80s styles, not some tacky attempt at reproductions, where else can you find a real velour shirt, or a new wave/punk outfit that is not stylized poser stuff?. My spiked collar from punker days? Awesome cool!. My college English daily journal - well only when they were older since every third word was some sort of curse and lots of thoughts about adult issues in there. Our old Atari game system - freaky cool!.
Be careful what you keep though. They found an early high school report card (Cs Ds and an F). Kind of hard to tell them you expect all As after they find that.
Some things that will be technologically obsolete are worthless to keep. My fabulous collection of 8 track tapes is only useful as building blocks. There is no way to play them.
Of course parents should keep things for children, still unsettled, if they can. The thing is that even when they are settled, they most likely will not want them.
My friend is the keeper of all the family memories, photos, and treasures. She has a stack of quilts, stitched by hand by her grandmother. The kids have no interest. She has carefully chronicled all the family pictures in albums. She has furniture from the ancestors.
The kids do not want them. I guess she hopes maybe her only grandchild will appreciate these things, but her son and daughter in law are rather slovenly, so I think this idea horrifies her too.
You're wrong he did say he was retired ,re read Post #7.
Again the topic was meant to share the emotional aspects of downsizing and moving onto the empty nest phase of our lives and not to dwell on the nuts and bolts of what to toss and what to keep.Obviously grannies quilts and all the family photo albums are not going to be tossed.
Firstly, indeed the empty nest medley is real...its a silent grief....
I have two boxes of items from my kids upbringing....its endured two fires, some temp homes...and back to my closet once again.... Every so often , I go thru it...its my "memory" box. An old broken Transformer kit that my son adored....or the plate he made in his one art class.... Those things are time sensitive
As a family we are not "attached" to much material wise...we learned how quickly it can go up in smoke. But our bonds as a family will go thru the passing of the ages...and with that...we have moments to recall...those little trinkets or odd ball items have a place....
My DIL still has a rocker that has been in the family for five generations....Each generation ( child) got their picture taken on it. That piece will continue...
Its coming up on a year since the kids left the house and moved out on their own,one across town the other across country,As the house is way too big for just the wife and i we are downsizing to a smaller dwelling which necessitates throwing out all the stuff they left behind,I'm finding it very emotional to be throwing out all their teddy bears,clothing,pictures on the wall,furniture, i'm not fitting into this empty nest thing too well and am continually feeling a great sense of loss and melancholy.
No real point to the topic i just needed to vent a bit.
Why aren't you talking to them about it? It's their stuff, and they have their own emotions, and -- if you're lucky -- they'll have their own kids for whom these things might be worth saving.
Right now we have far more room than people in our house, and I haven't had to face this downsizing issue. But, it's coming.
I've saved so much from our three boys, their favorite toys, clothing, school and artwork, trophies, etc. Well the trophies will go first, and without much angst. I've sent a couple of clothing items to our eldest for his own son, but have never seen evidence that they were used, or appreciated. And it wasn't everyday stuff, but his first t-ball jersey, where his 6 letter name went shoulder to shoulder because it was so tiny, and a miniature army uniform an uncle had made up when he was deployed. Stuff that meant so much to him as a kid, but he doesn't seem to appreciate that I saved it.
My mother got rid of things after my own brothers went away to school, like their trains, and baseball cards. They were crushed to find it all gone when they finally went looking for it. While I have the room, I'd like to avoid doing that to my sons, but unless i get some sort of indication they care, I'll let it go. And, I'm pretty sure it will be harder for me than them.
You're wrong he did say he was retired ,re read Post #7.
Again the topic was meant to share the emotional aspects of downsizing and moving onto the empty nest phase of our lives and not to dwell on the nuts and bolts of what to toss and what to keep.Obviously grannies quilts and all the family photo albums are not going to be tossed.
Well, that was actually what I was trying to address in my original post...the sadness. My daughter's room, and all its stuff, remained intact throughout her college years, as she came home to visit. But once she set up housekeeping in an apartment for grad school, far from home, she personally went through her room & took what she wanted, including some of the furniture. Surprisingly, she wanted her Nintendo 64! But she had no interest in toys, old clothes, her various trophies, awards, papers she had written, drawings, etc. She did take a quilt, made for her as an infant, that she always slept with. I was with her when she packed, & it was very melancholy for me...but not for her, as she was off on a new adventure.
We moved a couple of years later, which forced me to further reduce what she had left behind...if we hadn't moved, I may still have a lot of that stuff. But she is still pretty transient, has moved several times since grad school, and we couldn't permanently warehouse the artifacts of her childhood.
But yes, it was sad.
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