I've been contemplating what to post today and I'm having difficulties. Not because I'm having trouble coming up with anything to write about. On the contrary, I just have so much in my head I'm finding it difficult to sort out just one topic.
My sister and I talk daily. Not always about hoarding (thank goodness), but it does come up quite a bit as we are both working our way through the issues that come with growing up the way we did.
I always find it interesting that she and I see things so differently. We can be discussing the same incident in our past and find that it affected us each in a different way.
For example, I "like" to go in and do the clean outs at Mom's (when she isn't there). When I see the huge mess in front of me and I know that the one obstacle to clearing it is out of the way (my Mom), I feel energized! I dig in and as I throw things out, I feel purged, refreshed...
I just feel good. I know that as the clean up goes on I will tire of it, but I will use humor to get past that. I know that eventually my Mom will come home and freak out and just end up messing it all up again, but I feel justified. I feel like I've made a difference.
On the other hand, my Sister (whom I always drag there to be with me) looks at it and she feels something else entirely. Anxiety starts to kick in, she starts to panic she says she wants to scream and cry and never come back again. She starts to feel hate towards my Mom and the way we were raised. She always says she can't take it and swears she will never do it again.
It happens that way every time and I just don't get it. But I guess, she doesn't get me, either.
I think it's interesting that we were raised in the same house, with the same mother, and for the most part (we are just two years apart) experienced the same things. Yet, we ended up so unalike. That's not to say that we don't have similarities, because we do. But we each reacted differently to the hoard.
And that's made all the difference.
I'm toying with the idea of recording our phone conversations on hoarding and posting them on here weekly (with my Sister's permission). I just haven't figured out how to make that work yet.
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1 comment:
I love your descriptions about your mother. Mine hoarding mother was not like that at all. She doesn't call to see how the kids are, even though I know she must love them in her own way. She doesn't do any grandmotherly things with them, or send them cards on their birthdays. She doesn't even know how to spell their names. She was never a real loving mother, but she sure could throw (and still does) a temper tantrum! She always gets her own way. I invited her out to have a nice holiday dinner at my house 2 years ago, she brought her own dinner for everyone and "hoarded" my kitchen with her cooking (I had already provided EVERYTHING)She even moved food I made to put out decorations she made on my table. My fondest wish would be to have a holiday dinner at my parents home in the dining room with my kids and the whole family. It will never happen. Your blog is great, I just jumped on today to read it! Keep up the good work, your not alone.
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