When You’re Downsizing And Your Kids Don’t Want Your Stuff

You may have experienced this phenomena when you cleaned out a parent’s house.   Or maybe you are now downsizing and your kids have done it to you.  In any case, at one time or other, BA50s will probably have to deal with family “heirlooms” that absolutely no one wants.  Whether it be grandma’s flowery china, a “special” vase purchased on a trip to the Orient, family photographs in 40 volumes, or the dining room table that had been in the “family” for years– the problem of what to do with stuff that the kids (of any age) or grandkids don’t want will become your problem.

Should you sell the Hummel collection?  Store it?  Consign it?  Beth Teitell wrote about this issue this week in a fabulous article in the Boston Globe.  Teitell writes, “for generations, adult children have agreed to take their aging parents’ possessions — whether they wanted them or not. But now, the anti-clutter movement has met the anti-brown furniture movement, and the combination is sending dining room sets, sterling silver flatware, and knick-knacks straight to thrift stores or the curb.

“…feelings are getting hurt, as adult children who are eager to minimize their own belongings — and who may live in small spaces, and entertain less formally than their parents did — are increasingly saying “no thanks” to the family heirlooms.

Read more here.