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I Brake For Meltdowns

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

When Children Hoard

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Over the past month, my daughter has slowly acquired stuff around the house in shopping bags and filled her bedroom with them. I cannot walk across the floor. She has a serious hoarding addiction. I've found things like old Halloween candy, the stainless steel vegetable steamer, lost jewelry, an old checkbook, plastic trash from the recycling bin, and lots of little plastic do dads of unknown origin. Why does she do it? Is it a compulsion or just a way to set up and take charge of her own environment? I don't want to make her feel bad about her collections, but I do want her to at least keep the kitchen items where they belong, like the steamer basket (!).
If I were a really organized parent I would do this: Buy a set of stacking plastic drawers and help her sort, categorize, and cull the collections. And I will do that, eventually. I promise. But my time is limited, and so every day I go in and "disappear" a few things I think she won't miss.
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about the blog author:

Michelle Nicholasen
I am a mother of five children, now aged 10, 11, 11, 11, and 14. This blog is inspired by the book I wrote with Barbara O'Neal, the Educational Director of Arlington Children's Center. But the blog's main purpose is to share creative ideas for managing the wacky, frustrating, often irrational behaviors of little kids. The blog is growing with my children, so the issues I am writing about today reflect the development of tweens and teens.
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