Does your child hoard things?

My son is like a minah bird! he finds “treasures” everywhere — mostly bits of plastic — and stuff his pockets. When challenged, he immediately gives each piece of junk a special name and purpose (Oh, look! it’s a special fishing hook… a skateboard… a ship… a bed…). He’s figured out that if he can turn a scrap of trash into a toy, well, I just can’t bring myself to throw it away!

Lisa

This is amazing to me. My daughter collects everything. It is fascinating one minute and frustrating the next.

We bounce back and forth between letting her hoard items and trying to get her to leave others things alone.

When every door is locked – she’ll take pictures off of the walls in the living room, family room or wherever.

I’m glad I Googled the topic. Seems common. Unfortunately my daughter is non-verbal so she doesn’t offer any explanations!

Tom

I never thought of my kid as a hoarder before. I thought he was just sloppy and lazy. I realized there was more to it when he broke down bawling at 10 years old, when I was trying to help clean his room and wanted to throw away a box. He will keep paper, reciepts, boxes, he even has a box with bird nests he has collected. It’ s strange! I am not a hoarder myself, so I am not sure how to handle it without traumatizing him.

My son hoards garbage. He’ll find a reason to make use out of chip bags, cup lids, etc. It’s annoying. I just try to throw things away when he’s not home. Ironically, he doesn’t miss them either–he just likes to hold onto them.

One of my grandsons is a horder. He is autistic (aspburger). He doesn’t seem to notice when I pitch something, however, sometimes much later (a year or more), he’ll say “I used to have that, till you threw it away”. I can’t throw something away in front of him or he has a melt down. I think he gets angry when he realizes I tossed a treasure, but doesn’t seem to show it.

my son’s hoarding isn’t quite as severe as others, but he can’t get rid of anything willingly-I always do it when he’s not around and I save much more stuff than I would like. I often put stuff in a holding area in the basement or attic, then if he’s forgotten about it I pitch it, but he sometimes remembers years later. My standard answer: “I’m sure it will turn up sooner or later.” And here’s a funny story: he is now obsessed with real estate magazines. They are all over the house and my in-laws were babysitting and got nervous because they thought we were planning to move!