Is your house a 'holding bay'?

I dare n't throw any of their stuff away. It would definitely come back and bite me.

My FiL died in 1978 and DH and I cleared his house out. All the papers, diaries,letters, old documents, photos, boxes of old coins etc were tipped into a cardboard suitcase (circa 1930) and became known as "My Dad's stuff" but was never looked at. It accompanied us on all our various re-locations.

In 1996 when I retired first time round (VERY early retirement which only lasted 6 months as I got bored) I set to one day and sorted "My Dad's stuff" into categories and put it into folders ready for DH to go through it and decide what he wanted to keep.

This weekend, 36 years after it was first tipped into the case and 18 years after my initial sort, DH has finally got round to having a look! Only a look mind - nothing has yet been disposed of other than the ancient suitcase which was disintegrating.So now there is a plastic box under his desk with all my folders, tins, mini-boxes and photos waiting to be gone through - again. He reckons he needs me to help him decide what to keep!

Every time my daughter came to stay, I sneaked a carrier bag full of her stuff into the boot of the car. In this way it has 'only' taken me eight years to be rid of all of her possessions.

My son has another week at home before he returns to university, and I was looking in despair at all of the text books he still has from school. (We own them, I bought them rather than have him keep on leaving them at school when he needed them for homework, he has a short-term memory problem)

So he is currently upstairs sorting out 6 years' worth of text books ready for Ebaying. It's a start, but we have a whole den full of Lego and filming equipment - his hobby was making animated films entirely of Lego, and also writing the music for them. My husband looks at that room longingly, but as he was the one who encouraged it and bought it all, it's his own fault! That rom also contains musical instruments and recording equipment, DVds and books. I think it's going to take more than eight years to shif that lot - and there's also his bedroom with its hundreds of books, which we would love to be able to use as a spare room at some point.

Grannyknot we have had so much rain in London recently that maybe keep 1 surfboard but I cannot see a use for 2-3! It would be handy for Hampstead/Primrose Hill areas.

The point about the 'stuff' I have listed is that it is in transit somewhere else and just lands here on its way, waiting to be picked up by the recipients, but only when they want it!!

I could tell you about, bikes, CDs, teddies, Sylvanian families, suitcases full of heaven knows what [maybe a body!] and books, books, books and more books from years ago but I have come to accept those.

It's the transient stuff that is driving me bonkers!

Massive box of Lego. My little ponies, my little pony castles, a bag of DDs soft toys. Fisher very Pricey Drs set. A Boot House and much much more.

The squawks I get from DD when I suggest rationalising this crap much loved toys are dreadful. My house has a lot of room and a big loft. DD and DS are both in very small places.

What really is bad is the boxes of totally unread books DH keeps obsessively buying buying, hoarding and never reading. These are now spilling out of the cupboards onto piles on the landing.

Most boxes have been unopened for 26 years, but this is another problem altogether.

I do sometimes think about getting a wood burning stove and fueling it with unread books.

We have 3 large surfboards plus assorted surfing paraphernalia in the garage ... in London

We have a loft, chest of drawers and bookshelves full of daughters x 2 stuff including a big bag of soft toys. They both complain that we have too much junk and that the loft needs emptying BUT if I suggest getting rid of any of their toys, games, books or tat am told to keep it. They don't want it in their houses however! The girls are both in their 40's.

kittylester I do know. Absentdaughter was nearly in tears when she learned that I had got rid of her ice skates – too small and she has no idea where there is an ice rink – and a very naff jewellery box that I gave her when she was about seven.

I have in my loft many large plastic boxes full of my son's 'stuff' including all his ski equipment, uni books and his 'Star Wars' collection (he's 37) . He now lives permanently abroad and has the odd root through when he visits but nothing ever gets taken away.. maybe I could suggest the Star Wars collection now goes to his 8mth old son for future use but how we'd get it there goodness only knows.

I am still trying to sort out the things my DH moved out of the roof space into the top two rooms (he thought it would be easier for me to deal with). Whilst it is easier to sort through I don't often get the urge to spend the day going through everything and so there it sits making those two rooms "no go areas"!!

I also need to go through wardrobes and get rid of clothes I haven't worn in years (but always hope I will be able to fit into again). I also still have all my DH's clothes - every time I think I should take them to the charity shop or whatever I can't bring myself to do it.

The thing is absent, the stuff's not ours and could you imagine the uproar if I got rid of it?

We could put it in the roof out of sight but, sure as anything, someone would want something immediately after.

Or we could buy a caravan, rent a storage unit.

I think it stems back to when we had business properties and therefore loads of space to store stuff. Unfortunately, the children don't seem to have noticed that we sold them years ago!

There's nothing like emigrating to the other side of the world for getting rid of "stuff". Mind you, moving from a large four bedroom house to a small three bedroom house means that we are still overcrowded.

I have moved most of ours to our now unused caravan! But I know just what you mean.