Alright, so here's the deal. My mom is a compulsive hoarder. Straight up.
On saving things:
Mom said:
It's more economical to always save something that you spend money on. If you get rid of it, then find out you need it later, you have to go buy another one.
On why Swiffer dusters are a waste of money:
Mom said:
You can just do that with a rag*. Rags don't cost anything. Maybe someday when you're paying the bills you'll understand**
*Usually a t-shirt or sweat pants cut up with a pair of dull scissors, because they're still perfectly good.
**neglecting to recognize that I do, in fact, pay the bills.
I hate my parent's house, and I hate going home to it, even more so now that I live on my own. I remember in high school how I never felt comfortable inviting people over to hang out, which made it harder to form friendships with people. In fact I was always careful to keep people from coming to my house, because it was such an embarrassment.
Nothing here is ever clean or organized. There's a lot of psuedo-organization; tacky mismatched bookcases filled with old books and other knickknacks no one needs, bookcases, bookcases everywhere, some piled high with board games leftover from the 70s and 80s that no one every plays. So yeah, apart from bookcases and shelves, furniture is sparse and poorly implemented. Not guest friendly at all.
The house is dirty all the time. The whole house is carpeted, but rarely vacuumed. Kitchen floor is the exception (tile floor) , but it's always dirty, too. Mom always complains about how she can't be expected to cook and clean all the time, but the problem with that argument is that she never does either, and then expects others to clean up her mess.
The kitchen is always a wreck. More bookcases filled with cookbooks that are never used because she never cooks, shelves lined with antique jars and appliances. Cabinets have been without handles since we moved here 5 years ago. She removed them because they "needed to be polished" with some grit removing solvent, but she never got around to it. Cases of CDs, cassettes, and other crap take up counter space so it's impossible to use the counter for, you know, cooking.
None of our furniture matches. Not that it matters, since the purpose of furniture around here is to set more stuff on. It's common to see giant piles of newspapers, coupon books, and other **** everywhere.
This goes on in every room. Dust accumulates everywhere, just making it a bad environment to be in. My allergies always flare up when I come back.
Whenever I even try to bring it up to her she just closes off and won't talk about it. It isn't just me either, my brother Aaron (22) is more affected by it than I am. He's a much more emotional guy than me.
What really pisses me off is that I have two younger brothers, Andrew (18) and Karl (16), still living in that pigsty. Andrew's been dating a girl for like 6 months who my parents still haven't met because there's no way in hell Andrew's going to bring her to that house. And there's so much double standard stuff that happens, too. Like, if they leave their Wii or Xbox out in the leaving room without putting back in the cabinet (our entertainment center is from 1979 or something) it gets confiscated. THE HOUSE IS A ****ING DISASTER ZONE AND YOU'RE CONFISCATING THEIR WII BECAUSE THEY AREN'T CLEANING UP AFTER THEMSELVES? Give me a ****ing break.
My dad is pretty complacent about it all. He knows it's useless to resist my mom's habits, and he's a pretty laid back guy, so he just kinda rolls with the punches.
What should I do, guys? I'm tired of dealing with my mom's ****. I never had friends here, ever. And as it stands right now, this is not a house I would take a girlfriend/fiance to, and it's sure as hell not a place I'd take my grandkids to. It's really not even a place I want to go home to for the holidays. I love my parents, and I want to involve them in my life, but I can't do it at their house anymore, it's just not happening.
Bah, [/rant] for now, just needed to vent.
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