For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 22, 2013

All I can say is that I went thru this same sort of thing with my mother throwing some of my stuff out without asking me and now I have become a pack rat and can’t hardly throw anything out! If mothers want to teach a lesson, have your kid work with you and both decide what should be thrown out.Sorry, but it still bugs me. And thanks for letting me vent!

Point to Michael!

@JohnDKruse: So what you are saying is that kids who grow up in a home where the parents throw out their stuff without the kids’ permission, grow up to be packrats. It sounds logical and explains why I have a lot of clutter in my home.

When my sister was 12, the family was moving and my mom systematically threw a few of her dolls away every trash day My sisters were staying a few blocks away at my grandma’s, to finish the school year. every trash day, my sister would sneak over to the old house and rescue her dolls. she saved almost all of them ,then hid them . when she went away to college, she took them with her, in case my mom found them and tossed them! 64 years later, she has quite the doll collection,which I believe all started with mom trying to get rid of them in the first place!

Ellie’s eyes speak volumes. She is really choked that Michael has dared to speak his opinion on the matter. I raised 5 boys and a girl and I would no more think of throwing out an extra GI Joe doll/ equipment or a Barbie doll outfit than tossing one of my Elvis LP’s. All those toys came in handy when I started a babysitting service after some of my kids were working and no longer home all the time.

Eventually, I sold the toys in a yard sale…along with the LP’s …and shared the money with them all.

I’m getting tired of this storyline. Next!

I never threw away anything belonging to our boys. However, after a week of grandkids visiting, I went to the basement, saw parts to at least 5 different board games strewn across the floor, gathered them all up, and tossed them all. I had no idea what went with what, nor if anything was a full set.

I do not like the word hoarding. It sounds bad. It seems to me it is “saving for reuse/recycling”’ when you have a lot of space to store it and hoarding to save the same stuff when you have limited space

Some people may become hoarders because their parents threw stuff out, or because they were deprived in the Great Depression, but I think each case is different. My mom never threw out stuff of mine, but I’m kind of a hoarder type. I didn’t throw out my younger daughter’s stuff when she was a kid, but she’s a big-time hoarder now (her older sister isn’t). IMHO, there’s a genetic component here, as well as a learned one. See http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/146/1/Stamm.pdfpage 21, “Genetic Factors.”

There is a huge difference between a pack-rat type and a hoarder. A pack-rat holds on to things that are meaningful. A hoarder holds on to EVERYTHING! Usually to the point of unsanitary, unhealthful conditions. Hoarding is a psychological disorder. Saving your personal treasures is not.

like father like son

PS- neither of the grown ones is a “hoarder” or “pack-rat”

My dad was the one that would throw stuff out, probably because he was an ex navy man. My mom would keep stuff, probably because she was a child of the depression. I’ll never forget the fight they had when he wanted to get rid of her wedding outfit (they got married during the war and she couldn’t afford a wedding dress) She got rid of the dress, but she was so pissed. She did keep the hat that she wore, which I still have.

Why is everyone on here blaming their mom for their current issues? My mom always threw our things away. Sometimes I noticed and sometimes I didn’t. But I put on my big girl boots and went on. I never held a grudge for something so petty.

That could be the reason John stepped in, and did so without shouting. He probably just wanted some peace and quiet, not petty bickering between Elly and Michael.

In my case, it was a collection of True Comics, non-fiction published by Parents magazine in the 1940s. Probably not worth much on today’s market, but I always wanted to write for them, since I can’t handle 2D very well (but was a museum modeler in 3D). If anyone wants to revive the genre, I am still available.

The only thing I was really upset about my mother trashing was a reclining nude of myself that I painted in my oils on a large piece of plywood when I was around 12. I wish that she had just hidden it away somewhere to save for me at least. I don’t know why some people are so upset by nudity.

I also did a mural in gold linework on black glass on the wall of my marital bedroom showing nymphs and satyrs dancing around a forest clearing with floral garlands (that covered all the naughty bits). I had done pencil sketches for it in a notebook (both for the poses and my own amusement) and my X husband destroyed that book (after showing it to his lawyer who thought he was nuts to complain).

My father had a complete set of the Biggles books when he was a kid. When he left home, my grandmother threw them all out. My dad regrets that now, because that collection is going for $5000 US online!!

I love Mike’s face in panel 2.We all have regrets of things we or family members have thrown out.