"Hoarding: Buried Alive" - Who has watched this show?

[Handbag Lady]

I see you live in CA.. Is this show filmed out there? If so, I wonder if you could contact one of the counselors/psychologists that appear on this show and get a session for your mom? Has she ever watched this show? Maybe if she did, it would "spark" something in her and she would accept help from her family..

I'm not surprised that your mom offered to "clean" for you - when her own home is totally out of control.. One of the women (hoarders) on the show this weekend was always dressed picture-perfect when she went to work each day.. Not a hair out of place; full make-up; beautiful business suits with matching shoes and accessories; etc. - and you would never, ever suspect the way that she was living..

The reason your mom could easily clean your home - but not her own - is obviously because it's just too overwhelming.. That has to be tough.. But there IS help out there.. The question is: How to get her to accept it? I think a good first step would be to have her sit down and watch that show with you.. (On the weekends, you can catch one show right after another for hours!) It would certainly be worth a shot, right?

Thank you. It is my mom's favorite show. We've asked if she wants to be on it, and she says she'll clean the house when she gets around to it*. All she needs is a _______ to do ________ first. (The blanks vary from a screwdriver to put up all of the paper art to her ungrateful kids to stop hounding her all the time.)

I honestly believe she must think that her house doesn't look like those other hoarders.



*Very funny thing. My mom has, hanging in her living room, a round disk that says THIS IS A ROUND TUIT. She thinks it is funny that she has a round tuit because she's always saying this saying. I think it needs to be put in the trash with the rest of the garbage.

 

[Nette]

I think there's a big difference between having a house cluttered with a lot of stuff and a house where the person gets anxiety attacks over throwing things [crap] away. In your case I'd guess you just need a bigger house and then everything would be neat and in it's place.

I'm trying to figure out right now if my dad's family are hoarders. My dad died in November, and my brothers and I are trying to clean out his house. The thing is, he has stuff on every surface, but it's fairly orderly. He always sorted his projects into different boxes, etc. BUT he has some stuff that I associate w/ hoarding. Drawers full of things like empty ENVELOPES from bills from like 1984. We also found 3 boxes and a trash sack full of empty Camel cigarette soft packs... (The camel bucks were all removed and elsewhere in the house). He has boxes and boxes of empty Budweiser beer bottles. Office supplies out the wazoo. But among all of this stuff we find a huge collection of Very Fine comics, lots of Life magazines from the 60s, etc. All of these things are well taken care of.

What scares me is that now that he is gone, my grandmother has two other children left. One lives with her and the other lives in another state. I suspect when Gma dies, the son who lives with her will remain in her home, which is JUST as cluttered if not more so than my dad's. And the horrible part is it's MUCH bigger. When my uncle dies, I'm afraid I will be the one to have to clean the house out, because the aunt in another state will be too far removed really. Gma has ALWAYS had a cluttered house, I remember having to have the beds cleared off before we could spend the night... Papers everywhere. Knick knacks what have you. But only recently (last 10 years or so) has the place become rather unsanitary (dust). I couldn't believe the condition of the upstairs rooms when my dad was staying in one of them as he was dying.

Ugh... the whole thing depresses me. I see my brother's home becoming a mess like this too... Growing up we lived w/ my mother, and while our house was never *clean* it was purged of trash and junk regularly (like once a year).

What do you guys think? I'm starting to lean away from my family being pack-rats into them being borderline hoarders.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I'm trying to figure out right now if my dad's family are hoarders. My dad died in November, and my brothers and I are trying to clean out his house. The thing is, he has stuff on every surface, but it's fairly orderly. He always sorted his projects into different boxes, etc. BUT he has some stuff that I associate w/ hoarding. Drawers full of things like empty ENVELOPES from bills from like 1984. We also found 3 boxes and a trash sack full of empty Camel cigarette soft packs... (The camel bucks were all removed and elsewhere in the house). He has boxes and boxes of empty Budweiser beer bottles. Office supplies out the wazoo. But among all of this stuff we find a huge collection of Very Fine comics, lots of Life magazines from the 60s, etc. All of these things are well taken care of.

What scares me is that now that he is gone, my grandmother has two other children left. One lives with her and the other lives in another state. I suspect when Gma dies, the son who lives with her will remain in her home, which is JUST as cluttered if not more so than my dad's. And the horrible part is it's MUCH bigger. When my uncle dies, I'm afraid I will be the one to have to clean the house out, because the aunt in another state will be too far removed really. Gma has ALWAYS had a cluttered house, I remember having to have the beds cleared off before we could spend the night... Papers everywhere. Knick knacks what have you. But only recently (last 10 years or so) has the place become rather unsanitary (dust). I couldn't believe the condition of the upstairs rooms when my dad was staying in one of them as he was dying.

Ugh... the whole thing depresses me. I see my brother's home becoming a mess like this too... Growing up we lived w/ my mother, and while our house was never *clean* it was purged of trash and junk regularly (like once a year).

What do you guys think? I'm starting to lean away from my family being pack-rats into them being borderline hoarders.

I don't know if this helps, but hoarders tend to hoard in categories. My mom's are:

Newspaper clippings
Coca Cola collectibles
Dead flower arrangements (from weddings etc.) and their vases.
Butter and margarine tubs.
Themed items: hers is cowboy items, like photos and artworks of boots.
Cups. (Like the giant plastic ones from McDonald's.)


Here's a good way to tell. Can you throw away something that they have that is obviously trash without them having a fit or emotional breakdown? Do they offer excuses as to why and when they will clean?

 

[Nette]

I don't know if this helps, but hoarders tend to hoard in categories. My mom's are:

Newspaper clippings
Coca Cola collectibles
Dead flower arrangements (from weddings etc.) and their vases.
Butter and margarine tubs.
Themed items: hers is cowboy items, like photos and artworks of boots.
Cups. (Like the giant plastic ones from McDonald's.)


Here's a good way to tell. Can you throw away something that they have that is obviously trash without them having a fit or emotional breakdown? Do they offer excuses as to why and when they will clean?

Dad definitely has "collections". Beer bottles, magazines, comics, cigarette wrappers, binders... man, the man loved binders.

I can't ask dad about trying to throw stuff out... since he's gone. I wouldn't dare ask my grouchy old gma if I could clean, but my dad used to complain that he would try to help her clean and she would put it off and put it off until he got fed up and just took the crap to the dump or good will. I don't think she ever got mad about it... but then, maybe she just never noticed.
Can't ask my brother cuz I'm wise enough to not go over there...

 

[gator75]

i do watch the show and my house is clean but evrytime i see it it makes me want to clean it more i didnt ever have any experince with hoarding until we cleaned out my grandmas house 2 years ago it was so unbelievable the upstairs was full to the celing i told my parents and my parents that i wasnt going through that with them and they better start unloading now it took us 3 months to clean my grandmas house out

 

[mamacatnv]

My mother is a true hoarder, she is also schizophrenic and now suffers from severe dementia. Her hoarding can be linked to her mental illness. This goes back as far as I can remember. My bedroom as a child had a bed, my closet and floor space had cases of canned food. She liked to can and didn't know when to stop - a family of 4 cannot consume 200 jars of green beans and yet she would can them and store them. I found items from the 70's & 80's when I cleaned her apt. 3 years ago.

My Mother was not a collector, she was not someone who had a lot of things that she liked. She could not and would not get rid of anything. She spent all of her free time which was a lot adding to the mess, via garage sales, store clearance sales, the dollar stores were a haven to her, rummage sales and even the free items bins at the local church and those in her neighborhood.

Her hoarding led to her eviction from her apt. because she would not get rid of her stuff (fire hazard) which led to her being homeless (for 24 hours) which led to her being placed into a Psych hospital on an involuntary hold. This is where I was able to obtain guardianship and place her in a care facility. She still hoardes, the dining staff has to keep a sharp eye on the utensils, napkins, cups, syrup containers.....just about anything she can get her hands on will end up stashed in a drawer in her room.

There was no rhyme or reason for Mothers stuff - oh sure, she had lots of reasons and excuses but not a single one was logical or reasonable to those of us who did not suffer from her illnesses.

Mother had an 1100 sq. apt. that had aisles that were 12" wide, did I mention she also has OCD and measured those walkways. There was stuff piled floor to ceiling in every single room. She kept her own hair from her hairbrush, she layered it on paper towels, clipped the paper towels together with paperclips, then stacked a few together and placed into a plastic bag that she then taped closed. This was the procedure for just about everything.

Her bathtub and shower were unusable they were so full. She was suffering from malnutrition yet had cases and cases of canned, jarred, dried, boxed etc. foods. She wore the same clothes over and over yet had hundreds of clothing items in the house. Her stove was completely unusable as it was stuffed full (probably a good thing in hind sight). I found 5 waffle irons in her kitchen. Her mattresses were 6' off the floor supported by boxes of stuff (I measured) and were completely surrounded by stuff.

She also had several storage units as well as she had used garage space of people from her churches over the years to store more stuff.

This is a terrible illness, I will never ever judge a hoarder and for those of you dealing with hoarders, my heart goes out to you. The patience it takes is overwhelming. I look back and I know she could not prevent or help her own behavior and all of our "attempts" to help must have just terrified her. When the Sheriff removed her from her apt. I cannot begin to phathom what went thru her mind and the terror she felt in being separated from her stuff. She had no awareness what an eviciton really was (I know, I was at the court hearing with the idiot judge). I will forever regret some of the things we did because I know now that we added to her anxiety rather than really help out.

The laws to protect the mentally ill also hinder people being able to help the mentally ill. It is a cruel system and hoarding is an awful disease. I do truly believe that it is a disease and that for some, therapy can help and for others they are just too far gone and that love and patience needs to be used in abundance.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Big difference between cluttered and true hoarding.and we found out the hard way the health risks that can occur...my MIL when she was alive was a hoarder, heartbreaking... actual paths you had to walk dressers in front of dressers etc. Things stacked to the ceiling. She was a child during the depression which seems to be a common thing. She would shop at warehouse places believing that things were a "bargain" and never expire. It alienated her from everyone..we couldn't get through to her and we couldn't visit there. Strange thing is she was a nurse and no one at work would have guessed how she was living. She got to the point that she couldn't live by herself. It took 4 large size dumpsters to empty that house. The house had a leak from the boiler and at least 4 inches in the basement....long story short,after the basement was cleared out the years and years of closed basement windows and thing stacked to the ceiling and up against each wall resulted in having a professional clean-up co come in. That resulted in a Haz-Mat team coming in due to black mold found. What she ended up doing was destroying her home. I watch the show to remind myself that there are others out there like she was; so I keep my compassion for the illness that she had.

 

[C.Ann]

My mother is a true hoarder, she is also schizophrenic and now suffers from severe dementia. Her hoarding can be linked to her mental illness. This goes back as far as I can remember. My bedroom as a child had a bed, my closet and floor space had cases of canned food. She liked to can and didn't know when to stop - a family of 4 cannot consume 200 jars of green beans and yet she would can them and store them. I found items from the 70's & 80's when I cleaned her apt. 3 years ago.

My Mother was not a collector, she was not someone who had a lot of things that she liked. She could not and would not get rid of anything. She spent all of her free time which was a lot adding to the mess, via garage sales, store clearance sales, the dollar stores were a haven to her, rummage sales and even the free items bins at the local church and those in her neighborhood.

Her hoarding led to her eviction from her apt. because she would not get rid of her stuff (fire hazard) which led to her being homeless (for 24 hours) which led to her being placed into a Psych hospital on an involuntary hold. This is where I was able to obtain guardianship and place her in a care facility. She still hoardes, the dining staff has to keep a sharp eye on the utensils, napkins, cups, syrup containers.....just about anything she can get her hands on will end up stashed in a drawer in her room.

There was no rhyme or reason for Mothers stuff - oh sure, she had lots of reasons and excuses but not a single one was logical or reasonable to those of us who did not suffer from her illnesses.

Mother had an 1100 sq. apt. that had aisles that were 12" wide, did I mention she also has OCD and measured those walkways. There was stuff piled floor to ceiling in every single room. She kept her own hair from her hairbrush, she layered it on paper towels, clipped the paper towels together with paperclips, then stacked a few together and placed into a plastic bag that she then taped closed. This was the procedure for just about everything.

Her bathtub and shower were unusable they were so full. She was suffering from malnutrition yet had cases and cases of canned, jarred, dried, boxed etc. foods. She wore the same clothes over and over yet had hundreds of clothing items in the house. Her stove was completely unusable as it was stuffed full (probably a good thing in hind sight). I found 5 waffle irons in her kitchen. Her mattresses were 6' off the floor supported by boxes of stuff (I measured) and were completely surrounded by stuff.

She also had several storage units as well as she had used garage space of people from her churches over the years to store more stuff.

This is a terrible illness, I will never ever judge a hoarder and for those of you dealing with hoarders, my heart goes out to you. The patience it takes is overwhelming. I look back and I know she could not prevent or help her own behavior and all of our "attempts" to help must have just terrified her. When the Sheriff removed her from her apt. I cannot begin to phathom what went thru her mind and the terror she felt in being separated from her stuff. She had no awareness what an eviciton really was (I know, I was at the court hearing with the idiot judge). I will forever regret some of the things we did because I know now that we added to her anxiety rather than really help out.

The laws to protect the mentally ill also hinder people being able to help the mentally ill. It is a cruel system and hoarding is an awful disease. I do truly believe that it is a disease and that for some, therapy can help and for others they are just too far gone and that love and patience needs to be used in abundance.

Your story literally brought tears to my eyes.. Especially when you mentioned how terrified and confused your mom must have been when the Sheriff came to evict her from her home and "separate" her from her belongings..

I would encourage anyone who knows someone that "is" a hoarder - or is leaning in that direction - to catch a few episodes of this show so you can attempt to understand what this "illness" is.. These are not lazy people - not dirty people - nor are they uneducated people (at least the ones that I have seen).. It's a true "illness" and these folks need help - not threats; demands; or being viewed with disgust..

I myself LOVE to organize, but unfortunately I no longer have the strength to take on the challenge of helping a hoarder to get their life back on track - assuming they would accept my help.. If I could, I would be there in a heart beat.. I can only imagine how terrifed and overwhelmed they must feel every single day of their lives..

 

[FoundMyPrince]

I've watched the show several times and it just depresses me. While I watch I always clean the living room (it's very clean, but the show scares me into wondering if it could become like those on the show).

I really don't understand how or why the houses are the way they are. I've seen piles of garbage, intermingled with cats? The stench alone must be overwhelming. Some of the floors (when they actually are able to clean down to the floor) are just dirt on top of carpet. So sad. Some people are threatened with losing their children to Social Services if their home isn't cleaned and sometimes they look like they'd rather lose the kids than deal with the messes they've created. I just don't get it.

 

[StephyDee]

Whenever I watch the show, I always feel a little better about myself, because in my mind, I would consider myself a hoarder, but I know I'm not that bad.

For me, the problem isn't refusing to throw anything away in my bedroom, it's either 1) Things in my room are too big in size.....or 2) My room is too small.

If I went upstairs right now and started throwing things away, I would not be distraught over it. In fact, I'd feel better about myself. I think it's the combination of the fact that I was a little spoiled as a kid , and some things I have from childhood have sentimental value to me, and I'd feel like I was taking some of my childhood away if I did throw it away. This isn't with EVERYTHING, just with some kids books and clothes. That isn't a big problem at all. The other part of the combo is that I'm just a little too lazy to want to try and clean it everyday. Now, my other big problem is that I have WAAAAAAAY too many things in bags. That's an easy one to fix, it's just the matter of having the time to do it.

In the end, I am definitely not as bad as those people on the show, and watching it makes me realize that I don't have it as bad, but it lets me know how bad it COULD be. While it doesn't help that my parents compare me to the hoarders on tv (they're a little harsh, considering I think I got it from them, tbh lol), I know it's not as bad as it could be.

Thanks for letting me rant.

 

[C.Ann]

In the end, I am definitely not as bad as those people on the show, and watching it makes me realize that I don't have it as bad, but it lets me know how bad it COULD be.

Another good lesson to be learned from this show - "awareness"..

 

[mamacatnv]

Your story literally brought tears to my eyes.. Especially when you mentioned how terrified and confused your mom must have been when the Sheriff came to evict her from her home and "separate" her from her belongings..

I would encourage anyone who knows someone that "is" a hoarder - or is leaning in that direction - to catch a few episodes of this show so you can attempt to understand what this "illness" is.. These are not lazy people - not dirty people - nor are they uneducated people (at least the ones that I have seen).. It's a true "illness" and these folks need help - not threats; demands; or being viewed with disgust..

I myself LOVE to organize, but unfortunately I no longer have the strength to take on the challenge of helping a hoarder to get their life back on track - assuming they would accept my help.. If I could, I would be there in a heart beat.. I can only imagine how terrifed and overwhelmed they must feel every single day of their lives..

Thanks C.Ann as with all things time and age bring about understanding and awareness. I don't have a relationship with Mother, haven't since I was young (therapist actually says we never bonded, she was not capable) and now she has no idea who I am.
When she was evicted, I knew what was going to happen and had plans in place, the only unexpected curve ball was the shelter, she should have been taken to jail when she flipped out on the sheriff, it would have expedited the process of getting her into the psych hospital. In the end it all worked out, and seeing how ill she really is gave me compassion for her situation that I did not have previously.

I also wanted to comment, in Mothers case, she was not dirty, she was fastidiously (sp?) clean. Everything was wrapped in plastic, etc. However I have seen the shows with the mounds of garbage, animal feces etc. This reinforces to me that this is truly an illness, no rational person would want to live in filth and yet a true hoarder lacks the ability to clean up. It is very sad.

 

[C.Ann]

However I have seen the shows with the mounds of garbage, animal feces etc. This reinforces to me that this is truly an illness, no rational person would want to live in filth and yet a true hoarder lacks the ability to clean up. It is very sad.

I agree.. I can't believe how much I have learned from watching this program.. One of the few reality shows that I can say is truly educational.. I will continue to watch and learn - how each person has come to this point via a different route; what the possible warning signs are; and how others can help.. Yes - it's sad - but I also think it serves a great purpose..

 

[Morganpics]

I watch it. My MIL is a hoarder. There is no place to sit down in the house, she has to drag out a folding chair. We (me & DH) have not been to visit in months. He cannot stand it. There are 4 siblings, and no one will say anything to her. She can still walk (sideways at times) from the living room to the bathroom. Can't eat at the table because it's covered with - ? dishes, food from shopping that hasn't been put away because there is no place to put it. She must have hundreds of Wal Mart bags with "stuff" in them that she doesn't even remember anymore. It's just really sad.

 

[Sleepy]

I remember many years ago I think it was 20/20 that had a special about horders. There was a lady who they were trying to help. They came in her home and gave her 3 big boxes. One box was for stuff she absolutely could NOT throw away, another box for stuff she knew she could throw away and the last box was for stuff she was not so sure one way or the other. My dad and I were watching the show and my mom left the room. We commented that it hit home too much for her.

They started in what seemed like an easy room....the bathroom. They discovered used bandaids stuck to the wall. They asked the woman to remove the bandaids and place them in the box she felt comfortable with. She actually could not throw them out. Yes, used bandaids. It was so incredibly sad. It was obvious that if this lady could not throw away a used bandaid, she would have difficulty with everything else.

I know what it is like to live with hoarders. My mother used to be one. My MIL is one and my husband is a closet hoarder (I have his stuff confined to a small garage). Maybe that is why I prefer a sterile house with few possessions.

 

[kirstenb1]

I live in a cluttered house. I am not to the extreme or even close to the hoarders shown on these shows. We just have a lot of stuff that I have no clue what to do with. As my grandmother left her house, my mom moved to AZ, I was given soo much of their stuff. I am at the point where I can't stand all the clutter. We have been in this house for almost 17 yrs. We still have stuff in the basement that we kept 'in case' we need it. I have been telling DH that I am sick of all this stuff. I have been on a clean sweep lately to get rid of stuff. I hate to throw things in the garbage. I have been freecycling as much as I can.

I realize that this has been a hereditary issue. When my Grandfather passed away and we cleaned out the house to put it on the market ( grandma was moving in w/ my mom). We were blown away with the amount of stuff he saved. He had 50 gal drums in the basement full of toilet paper!! many of them. We realize that it was from the living thru the depression that is the way they lived. We had to careful go thru any thing we touched bc we never knew where we would find money. I found a pile of Christmas money holders in a bag in the garage - each one had $5 or $10 in it. My mom was the same way. I was the only child out of 6 that packed her up to move to AZ. I literally went thru each item in the house to see if she wanted it. We did manage to give away about 4 vans full to a church thrift store. My mom saved everything 'incase we needed it'. I guess I was just bought up with that in my heads so dh and I saved everything(well not everything but it certainly seems like it at times!)

My kitchen table for the life of me can never be completely cleaned off. I always have a pile of papers on one corner. It has always been that way. With 3 children in school the paperwork/homework is overwhelming. I have bins of my older boys schoolwork in the basement from preschool up to 5th grade. I have a goal to go thru it but not sure what to throw out?? Thinking of photographing them and putting it on a memory card (takes alot less space!) Has anyone never saved any school papers from their children??

It is true that I am overwhelmed at times on tackling the clutter. Our front and rear porch seem to be a catch all of everything and anything. DH does not work on cleaning clutter it is mainly left to me. I don't have time during the day w/ ds2 that no longer naps. We are also beginning to foster again in a month or so. I have little time on my own to work on cleaning the clutter.

Someday my house will be cluttered free but in the mean time I will be freecycling as much as possible!

I don't save any of my kids schoolwork. If there's a special piece of artwork, or an award, I put it in our scrapbook. DH can be kind of cluttery, but clutter makes me crazy. It's like I can't think when it's surrounding me...very similar to if the tV or radio is too loud.

 

[wdwfan16]

We DVR every episode. We also watch the other hoarders show. The part the is most shocking to me is the other show say that 10% of all Americans are hoarders. That is over 30 million!!!!!

I know one person who hoards, but not like this. All of us try to get her to do just a little and it has helped. I guess she could go over the deep end but I hope it never happens.

 

[talulabelle]

I don't save any of my kids schoolwork. If there's a special piece of artwork, or an award, I put it in our scrapbook. DH can be kind of cluttery, but clutter makes me crazy. It's like I can't think when it's surrounding me...very similar to if the tV or radio is too loud.

I save very little school work. Maybe a couple of art projects that they spent a lot of time on and a few samples of their writing from each year. I also like to save anything that has a "family portrait" drawn on it. These are cute later looking back at them and seeing how they draw themselves so large and siblings smaller. Or that the youngest wasn't even born yet, or they drew him in my tummy. Everything else goes straight from the "take home folder" in their backpack right into the garbage can. I look at it, tell them what a good job they did and throw it out. It doesn't hurt their feelings, it is the way it has always been, they know that we don't save paperwork...and it makes them more proud when there is truly something special that is saved. I have a small portfolio with each child's name on it under my bed where I keep the few things from each year that are saved. Things like papermache project are allowed to sit on a shelf in their rooms for a couple of months before we take a picture of it to add to their portfolio and throw out the project itself.

I used to save almost everything for the first couple of years and it was becoming overwhelming. Then my mother-in-law cleaned out her basement and delivered to my door BOXES of all of DH's work from his childhood. I mean HUGE BOXES. All neatly and lovingly organized by year. So what were we to do with it all? Fill our dining room with it? Um, no. It all went to the dump. Even the nicer projects were so worn by age, that they really weren't special anymore. All of the work she did maintaining all of it -thinking that Dh would appreciate when he was grown... and it lasted one day in my house.

So after that...I stopped saving everything for my own kids. I am saving something that they can put on a bookshelf when they are grown, not fill a garage with. It really put a lot of things that I do for my kids in perspective. I didn't want to give a up a fisher price doll house my daughter had played with when she was small. I didn't want to give it up because of the memories of her being small. But I still have those memories. And pictures of her small. I had to detach the doll house from the memories. I just thought, How would I feel, if my mother in law brought an old worn plastic dollhouse from the "70s to my house for my kids to play with that was missing some pieces? I would be annoyed that it was another piece of junk in my house, that is how I would feel. So why would I save my daughter's and do that to her in 25 years?

I have to work rather hard to live in the now. When I was young I was always thinking about the future and saving stuff I might need one day. Now I struggle not to try to hold on to the past when my oldest kids were small and we were just starting out as a family. I have to continually remind myself to live in the PRESENT. It can be a daily struggle, but it is a happier place to be without all of the clutter. I just want to have things around me that I love and use now.

 

[talulabelle]

So did anyone see "hoarders" last night wit hthe guy that was an "antiques dealer" and he had the yard sale trying clear things out. He was pricing everything so high! He wanted $15 for a muffin tin ! He said because it was commercial. OMG! That thing wasn't worth $15 new! He was really detached from reality. Greed greed greed. Just rather keep his junk in his house rather than take a few bucks less. Amazing.

 

[Hoodie]

I watch the shows. First, it makes me think my house is actually clean! Secondly, it makes me really REALLY motivated to clean and toss things.

A couple of months ago I had saved a bunch of diaper boxes to fill with donation things. They were sitting in the corner because we hadn't had time to clean out the closets. That episode of Hoarders started with the therapist finding a whole bunch of empty boxes and asking what they were for. Apparently, the homeowner had been hoarding boxes to put stuff in as she sorted. I told DH we were halfway to being on the show!

MIL is borderline. Actually, it's more my step-FIL and she just allows it. They did manage to get their living room cleaned up enough to sit in, but the rest of the house is packed. My grandmother does "collect" but she's a depression kid. Every once in a while sh'll purge some things. Our neighbor's house looks like the ones on the shows. A few weeks ago I noticed her door was slightly open when I left for work. It remained slightly open all day. It was still slightly a jar when I came home. I actually told DH that if it was still open when I left for work the next day that he would have to make sure she wasn't trapped by falling debris. Sadly, if she wasn't nutty as a fruitcake we probably would have checked on her sooner but we've had some issues with her (borderline stalking...she's literally crazy) and didn't want to encourage her.