Sorting clothing angst

[pegkerr]

Fiona has been weeping for the last half hour.

We have been going through clothes, because their drawers are overstuffed and we just got another crop of hand-me-downs from the cousins. So I went through their drawers with them and sorted: these to go to the younger cousin, these to go back in the drawer, these to get thrown away. And Fiona is weeping, weeping, weeping, over a couple of shirts, torn and stained with filth and dearly, dearly loved.

She went into the hall where I had put the garbage bag filled with the discards, pulled the shirt out again, and collapsed on the floor, her face buried in it, sobbing.

I know what you're thinking: Peg, if it means so much to her, why not let her have the damn shirt?

I'll tell you why: I married a man who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, who gets physically ill at the idea of throwing things away. At the time I married him, I didn't know what immense stress that would cause our lives. And I am determined that the girls have to learn this: when something is ruined, you have to learn how to get rid of it.

Edited to add: Both girls have a keepsake box, which holds old clothes which are particularly lovely and sentimental (first dress, first christmas dress, etc.), even if they are too small for them to wear.

However, the clothes that Fiona has cathected onto so strongly are not only old, they are faded and covered with holes and ground in stains and dirt. There is nothing the least bit lovely about them. They are complete and utter rags.

I did try to give her some feeling of control by telling her: you can keep one tie-dye T-shirt (she had about five).

You must also keep in mind that the girls are growing. We have limited storage room for clothes that fit them. We can't spare drawer space for clothes that don't fit them and are utter rags, just because they love them so.

Comments

[dancingwriter.livejournal.com]

How I sympathize with you! My son has this problem, too; he has Asperger's Syndrome, on account of which he also manifests a lot of OCD symptoms. I have used the quilt solution that Rachet suggests (and variations, such as turning cherished pieces of gift wrapping into bookmarks)--but that's not always practicable. A few years ago, Owen came up with his own technique for letting go--he holds onto the thing to be disposed of, mentally "takes his energy out of it" (I'm not sure just how he visualizes that, though--as I said, he came up with this himself), and then throws the thing away with never a look back. Things that have very special associations, though--such as the empty shampoo bottle from the hotel we stayed at in Dublin--are much harder to let go of. (I can sometimes work the OCD to advantage, however, if I can point out that the object is getting moldy or germy--then he wants nothing whatsoever to do with it.)

Sorry, I'm rambling--but I do sympathize and wish you luck with handling this!