When exactly I decided that something had to be done.

My dad had surgery a couple of weeks ago. I went to their house the day he was checked out of the hospital, and I was shocked. I wouldn't call them hoarders to the extent that is featured on the documentary, but I definitely see that there is an issue with purging the clutter, or at least having functional systems to deal with it. Stuff that is so treasured was probably ruined when the hot water heater exploded after Thanksgiving.

The problem is that there is a lot of deferred maintenance on the house that needs to be done. And because of a combination of not being able to get to the needed spots in thehouse, and my parents being embarrassed for anyone to see the house like that, they just haven't done the maintenance. Now there are significant issues: Broken Dishwasher, Galvanized pipes, Two showers that don't work, the microwave only works on "defrost" and you can only use the number 4 and 8 when selecting a time. The water heater exploded, and with a new one installed, it promptly went out the first day that my dad was home from the hospital.

 

The problem is extremely complicated. There is sooooo much that needs to be done; it is way too much for even my mom and I to do, and yet they don't want anyone else to see it like that. So it doesn't improve, and just gets worse. The house is now so cluttered that there's no spare room in order to move the boxes around and make the front room look functional and clean. The worst part is that they had guests over just one year ago. It has managed to go downhill this badly within 12 months.

I was there till midnight the first night and all day on Saturday. I went to help on Sunday for a half day and I left feeling like nothing got accomplished. Mom gets side tracked and starts working on projects that ultimately are not going to help clear out the clutter. Without a dumpster they are limited to what they can get rid of by the normal trash pick up once per week.

I woke up that Sunday morning full of anxiety, until I realized I was at my own house and that my house is not cluttered like that. Whew, I can relax, I'm in the peaceful house.

Except, there's that one bedroom downstairs, when I can't open the door all the way and I had to wrap presents in the hallway because it was so cluttered in there.

And I can't find a name tag that I need, so I have to pay to replace it.

And my husband and I had just gotten into a fight about how I always leave my wet towel downstairs.

And the Christmas decorations weren't completely put away.

And the downstairs closet has stuff falling out of it.

 

So maybe my house isn't terrible, but it's time to declutter.