Minimalism Meltdown

He came home from school and growled at me. I had no idea why my son was so upset. I thought maybe he had a bad day at school. How could it be since it was only the second day and the day before he had a fantastic day. I would find out soon enough.

I wrapped up what I was doing, and came to see what the matter was. I come to find him pushing big plastic boxes around that I had been using to organize a jumble of cars in various boxes. I hadn’t finished from my re-organization project the day before. The boxes were just sitting there waiting for me. Little did I know that he was eyeballing them to see what I would be up to.

No I had no intention of getting rid of his cars, at least the ones that he currently plays with where that I know that he plays with. It’s pretty tough when you have what seems like thousands of hot wheels and various other cars that are purchased when it’s just easier to make the buy than have an argument.

Now my son has a mess of cars in our sunroom, with more room for him to play with hot wheels tracks and cabinets that are organized by the type of car whether it’s a race car or some other vehicle. But upstairs in my main living space, there is absolutely no room for the volume of cars in his possession.

I whittled it down to two boxes. I had removed the bench under my television that had three small hard to pull out drawers with not even cars, it was Duplo‘s which he doesn’t play with anymore, A box of car wash toys where I would give him curlers or scrub brushes to make his own car washes that he was addicted to when he was younger. He still addicted to car washes but the actual car wash now is more of interest to him then making toy car washes. And especially Recording the experience on my iPhone.

My son was pushing around boxes and pushing them down the hole and just very agitated that I had removed the bench and he was so angry. I need to back up and share A little more about him so you understand where it’s coming from. My son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder a few days before first grade last year. I always knew they were difficulties with him, and the way that he perceived the world. This label may stay with him, it may not. Personally it’s just a label whatever it’s called I want to take care of it because it is such a difficult thing to deal with. Not just for me but for our family and especially him. I feel terrible that things are so confusing and difficult for him to deal with, but I need to reclaim my life back since he refused to do camp the whole summer because he just does not like change. And also because he has anxiety, as well.

For the average kid, my decluttering his toys might have been easier to take. Because he views his world differently, without warning him that it was coming, he had a major meltdown. Minimalism meltdown I called it. I needed to explain to him that I didn’t throw out anything, I just rearranged it so it took up less space. He of course was very upset that I threw away the bench, until I told him that there was no purpose for a bench underneath the television. And he laughed and said yes who’s going to sit underneath the television to watch it. He’s a pretty smart kid, but emotions override that.

So as I continue my decluttering journey, I will keep this in mind when I’m going to re-organize anything of his. And I suggest that you keep that in mind to, if rearranging any spaces that are shared. It was a lesson learned. I’m not sure how differently I would’ve handled the situation, because in order for me to function, I need to reclaim my space again. But maybe next time I might be a little bit more careful about removing furniture.