# Cleaning <3



## CarolinaHobby (Jun 23, 2014)

I suppose I am one of those fruitcakes who actually enjoys purging and cleaning. I am a definite minimalist! My husband, on the other hand, is from a family of hoarders. Needless to say, when people compliment the house on its neatness, he likes to claim that "Well, I didn't really have a choice...she just threw all my stuff away!"

Which may or may not be true. :ashamed:

The trouble therein lies with his family, actually. Not only do they try to butt into our personal affairs, his mom actually tries to always bring us some of her hoarded items. I suppose that it is a way for her to "keep" her stuff but not have it in her own house? 

What in the world is the nice thing to say about this? Without just throwing it away, like my husband has been known to do to some of it...


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2014)

I General say something like, "No, but Thank you. We have nowhere to put it." Which usually has them push a little harder, to which, I suggest, "Do you need help disposing of that? I have a dump run coming up soon."

:-D


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## Ceilismom (Jul 16, 2011)

You could just say "thank you". Take the stuff, haul it to the dump (or the thrift store if it is actually a usable item that you just plain don't want/need). If the hoarder is actually removing the items from their home to take to yours, rather than just bringing you new stuff because they are out of room, that might be the best way to deal with it without hurting feelings. Any time a hoarder willingly turns loose of something seems like a win to me, but only if you can keep it from carping up your house/life in the process.

Or, there is nothing in the world wrong with the PP's suggestion of saying "no, thank you, would you like help disposing of it?" If you are someone who is easily guilted, it's better to not have the junk ever cross your threshold, and you'll probably see an end to offers of more of it. It sounds like the offers of junk are an extension of trying to meddle in your marriage, and if so, it's probably best to go with the "no, thank you" approach, without worrying overly much about hurting feelings.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

I gave up on the no thank you and just take the stuff to the church donation box, if its worth anything, some stuff gos in the trash recycle. I did think about telling dad I would post it for sale. But didnt


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## Mrs. Jo (Jun 5, 2007)

It's probably better to be honest and say you don't want it or couldn't use it. My mil whom I love gave us this old ugly, sinfully ugly tea set that fil had gotten when he was in Vietnam many, many years ago. I can't really remember what I did with it- did I give it to goodwill or did I just hide it in my garage? I can't remember but they asked for it back. I had to say I had no idea where it was...had no idea if I kept it or not. I think they were pretty mad. But I'm not a hoarder and they are so it's best to say if you don''t want it right away. Anyway about 2 years later I found part of that set in the garage so I gave that part back to them. Maybe we'll find the rest but meanwhile I hope they never give me anything else like that.


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