New Here

[UncleJoe]

I was in a weird situation trying to help an old friend who was a hoarder type. It was bad enough that she had too much stuff, but it was filthy dirty...

...She was a nervous wreck whenever we threw out anything, even obvious trash, and would race to the garbage to see what we through in.

OMG!! I going trough the same thing right now! AuntJoe's mother died almost 2 weeks ago. They didn't have much of a relationship so I hadn't been there for a few years. When I went over to help clean her place out I was totally overwhelmed at what I saw. There are tiny paths to walk through in her 14x70 trailer. I had seen the hoarder show on TV but couldn't bring myself to believe that anyone could live like that. The first day I walked in my pant legs were immediately covered in fleas. A moment later there were fruit flies swarming around my head. I turned around, walked out and said: Something needs done about this before I go back in there. She had an exterminator come in 3 times.

So over the weekend we got started and just like your experience, I was followed around and second-guessed on everything I threw in a trash bag.

This is going to be a long process.

Sorry for derailing your thread @hiwall

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Hi @hiwall and great to see you joined us too .

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@UncleJoe yes it is sometimes overwhelming to see how the other half live indeed and makes you realise when you are in the throws of their chaos just how organised your family truly is .

 

[UncleJoe]

@UncleJoe yes it is sometimes overwhelming to see how the other half live indeed and makes you realise when you are in the throws of their chaos just how organised your family truly is .

Not as organized as it should be. To a lesser degree, she's trying to follow in her mother's footsteps. I will have nothing to do with it. It's been creating some tension here at home.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@UncleJoe sometimes people revert back to what was considered normal to them in the way they were brought up, and it takes some time for them to find a different way to do things.

I was brought up in a home where my mother had the worst domestic skills going yet amazingly I turned out to be quite tidy. Mind you I did teach myself most things and was never shown by her, but my grandmother was a good teacher and very house proud and tidy.

 

[Amish Heart]

My mom was brought up in a clean Amish household, and she was always neat and clean when I was growing up. Just not a cook at all. Now she's a mess and saves everything. It was hard to fit her stuff in the one bedroom apartment she picked out, and overflow is at my uncles a few door's down. I do realize that if she chose to wait for a two bedroom apartment, the second one would just be a mess filled with junk. I think she got that way after her husband went to a home, because mom gave up driving when she retired. So, she'd ordered junk off the tv. And just buy whatever when she did get out.