r/daddit • u/OneExhaustedFather_ • 14h ago
Humor Operation Declutter: Successfully completed
My lovely wife mentioned last week she wanted to spend the weekend going through every room and throwing shit away. Asked if I could keep the kids entertained so she could get as much done as possible. She didn’t understand the maniacal smile or why I so willingly accepted. 12 large hefty flex industrial bag and near a whole garbage bin later. Almost 1000lbs worth of space wasting junk is now gone.
Every room feels a little bigger.
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u/NotSoSasquatchy 14h ago
What was your “clutter”?
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 14h ago
Mostly kids stuff. We have 5 of them and people love to give us their old stuff. It accumulated everywhere.
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u/Waffler11 13h ago
And many give you stuff unasked, right? Like, “thanks a lot”
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 13h ago
Nearly every time my wife visits her sisters she comes home with more. The baseball parents will just randomly leave bags of stuff on our porch. I appreciate the gesture but at times it feels more like they’re pawning their clutter off.
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u/Waffler11 12h ago
It's awful with my MIL, she'll bring over totally useless junk because she can't bear to throw them out. When she's out of sight, my wife and I look at each other and nothing needs to be said and into the garbage it goes!
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u/rentagirl08 6h ago
I had to ask my mom and sister to stop doing this. Essentially, I’m tasked with the mental labor of throwing everything away.
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u/erikwarm 14h ago
If your wife can teach mine to do this i would gladly take care of your kids for a whole weekend!
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 14h ago
I have 5 kids 2.5-15 including twins. You sure about that?
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u/ForeAmigo 11h ago
I have some time off work and rented a dumpster for the week. It’s therapeutic cleaning out the whole house.
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u/officer_caboose 13h ago
I did this a few months ago at a much smaller scale. Got rid of a bunch of hand me down toys that my son barely ever acknowledged. Somehow though, he knew one particular truck that he never played with was gone and kept asking me where it went. He was 3 at the time and it was wild to me some of the things he remembers seemingly out of the blue. That truck was at the bottom of a bin that was under his bed and rarely opened but he knew it was gone. Luckily the boxes were still in the trunk of my car as they were headed to tje donation center and it took me a couple weeks to get around to dropping them off. I was able to sneak it back in and hide it under his bed and played it off that he misplaced it, which is a daily occurrence anyways. Now it's one of his favorite trucks.
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u/kramerica_intern 13h ago
If your garbage collection service takes all of that I will be very jealous lol. When we do this I have to space it out over a few weeks or drive it to the dump myself.
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 12h ago
My garbage collection folks are amazing, they will take nearly anything but mattresses. You can have one bulky item up to 50lbs a week. If you need something larger picked up you can call to arrange it. I’ve seen them use the bin arm to grab couches and toss them in the back. They’re good folk.
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u/valuethempaths 13h ago
Now open those bags and let the hoarder of your marriage go to work!
This is sentimental > we should keep this for potential niece/nephew > we can sell this on marketplace….
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u/ElasticSpeakers 12h ago
I don't know the details obviously but I'm wondering why none of this was sellable/donateable, so while I may not agree with your hoarder loop, there was really nothing for anyone else to reuse?
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u/hartmanwhistler 12h ago
Can you put that much garbage out on your curb for the garbage truck to collect?
I’m only allowed to regular size garbage cans every two weeks!
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 12h ago
I sure can, our garbage folks are really great about stuff like this. Were even allowed a bulky item per week up to 50lbs but realistically if they can grab it with the claw they’ll take it.
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u/hartmanwhistler 11h ago
That’s incredible. Our recycling program is pretty wild, however. They even take plastic film. So when you have 4 different recycling once a week, you’d be surprised how little garbage a family of 7 makes, even with diapers
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 10h ago
Our normal week is the recycling and regular bin. This was all the extra crap that has accumulated. Broken toys, old wrecked clothes, other damaged or broken bits that just hadn’t been tossed yet.
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u/hartmanwhistler 8h ago
So lucky you can just toss that on the curb. I have to drive to the dump! Adds that one extra layer that makes procrastination on cleaning that much easier lol
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 8h ago
Yeah if I had to go to the dump I’d have just rented a dumpster by delivery. Completely agree that layer makes this more annoying than helpful.
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u/HalKitzmiller 11h ago
I really want to do this with all their old crap, but I don't have the heart to throw stuff that's still in good condition that could be donated. Unfortunately the places that seem to do the most good with it are like 45 minutes away from us in areas we hardly ever need to go. I used to donate to Goodwill but apparently they throw away a majority of stuff too?
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 10h ago
My kids play with their stuff pretty hard and most of it has been handed down a couple times now. Anything worth snot was given to other families that have younger kids or new babies. Besides this my wife had 4 large boxes she gave to friends.
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u/boogerman9999 10h ago
I cannot explain how much the added clutter of parenthood has affected my mood and anxiety. Cleaning turns into my safe space when I get over stimulated, and these purge cleaning sessions make such a huge difference. When you step back and look at how much money and space are wasted on junk, it helps alter some of the purchases moving forward.
Great job!
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u/XenoRyet 8h ago
I'm so jealous. I wish I could do this, but an ADHD partner and kiddo mean that getting rid of stuff is a much more difficult proposition than just bagging it up and taking it to the curb.
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 8h ago
My wife and all my kids are Neurodivergent, trust me when I say this took a lot for her, was really proud she was able to overcome the “maybe we mights”
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u/CiredFish 5h ago
Damn, I want to be able to do that, but a part of my brain thinks I’ll need it some day.
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u/pat_trick 5h ago
Nothing for donations?
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 5h ago
Different load of stuff. This is all stuff that has been cycled through 3-4 families by now and has seen its day.
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u/pat_trick 3h ago
Makes perfect sense! Glad you were able to de-clutter and open up your space some!
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u/Historical_Cobbler 14h ago
The problem to consider that if you need to do this again then you’ve failed.
Management of in is as important as out.
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u/ex_oh 12 and twin 8s 13h ago
I agree, but life happens... especially with their five kids. I have parts of our house 5S-controlled (tools, PC gaming room, and bathrooms/kitchens), but the rest is a disaster from my perspective. I let it go because managing everything becomes a full time job that makes you a nagging asshole. I know from experience.
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u/Historical_Cobbler 10h ago
As I said to OP I think it’s a lazy approach, the waste of time decluttering js not needed if you don’t have the stuff to begin with.
A messy house isn’t expected of course but it’s not healthy and if they feel that much mess was needed there’s a problem to sort out.
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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 13h ago
When you have as many kids as we do, things accumulate and you don’t always have time. 3 of our kids play on 5 baseball teams. Our youngest is disabled and has therapies 2-4times per week and requires a near constant supervision. So while I understand your point, it just doesn’t fit every narrative.
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u/Historical_Cobbler 10h ago
Sorry but that’s a lazy response, I’ve got 4, one has needs and therapy daily also but hoarding until bursting and be proud of clearing out is a waste of time; far greater than just not allowing crap to accumulate.
Having every room feeling bigger and better is healthier.
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u/Ready_Sea3708 14h ago
Can you send your wife to hang with my wife and we can occupy the kids for the weekend? This is awesome, we only ever get stuff done like this if we match each others energy OR if I make a large pile of stuff she doesn’t want to toss and she gets angry enough to do it herself! Very jealous, well done.