STUFF Everywhere

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I stood at the top of the basement stairs listening for conference call voices.  Hearing silence, I opened the door and called down.

“Be sure to charge your devices.  There’s a good chance we are going to lose power.”

“It’s storming out?” Bob called back.  “I had no idea.”

All of a sudden, my mind went hash tagging: #basementworkinglife #workinginfluorescents #tunnelvision

“Yes, it is pretty bad outside, and the power keeps flickering.  Best to charge up now, just in case.”

Closing the door, I checked on the devices of sleeping children, and then I began to charge my own. 

The rain was so loud on the drive to my gym that I could not hear my audiobook being read to me.  I had to detour on my route home as trees had downed and blocked the road.

Sitting at the dining room table, my makeshift desk, I watched the rain from the window.  It hammered down from the left.  Moments later, it was powering from the right.  It hit the ground with such force, Forrest Gump played in my head:

“It even rained from the ground up.”

It appeared that it was never going to stop.  The clouds were full and prepared to provide hours of weather.  Weather I was ready for, even hopeful for, if it meant a break from the excessive heat and humidity.

Heavy rain being a weakness for our house in places, I walked around the house with towels to get any excess rain from broken seals, a bucket for the constantly leaking fireplace.

And stumbled on toys.  Again.

One of the things I liked best about our house when we bought it, was the finished basement.

When we moved here, oh so many years ago, the older children were babies, with dreams of a Declan far away in our heads. 

With babies come toys.  Big plastic contraptions to roll around and climb on.  Playpens.  Strollers. Train tables, big plastic princess castles. Big STUFF.  Lots of STUFF.  STUFF that needed a place to go.

A finished basement was the perfect answer.  I had my living quarters upstairs and the kids had their play quarters downstairs.

When Bob moved his work into the basement, there was a slow shift.  As time moved on, I no longer ran on my treadmill.  I run hotter, hillier, shorter distances outside on the trails.  The kids no longer use the basement to hangout or play.  But most of all, there has been a transition of STUFF.

The “Do, do, do, do, do – do” music of video games plays on repeat in my living quarters.  On two TV’s.  Gaming consoles got moved from the basement.  Another TV was moved to the front room for more gaming opportunities.  The toy chest of plushies got relocated to our living area.  The trampoline that found some time in the basement for private jumping is rolled around the main floor, only to be tripped over.  Baskets of toy figures emerged for “who do you think would win in a battle” battles.  Art supplies dumped for possible drawing time.  With strawberry butts and apple cores littered around rooms.

In short, it is overwhelming.  STUFF is always everywhere.

In exasperation, I have thrown bags of plushies down the stairs for a moment of respite.  Only to have an exasperated Declan tow them all back up the stairs with a stern reprimand.

“Stop doing that.”

In my pre quarantine days, I needed a clean house to sit at my computer to write.  Or pay bills. Or read.  I could not focus on anything if there was a mess, shoes out of the shoe bin, toys on the floor – anywhere.  Clean living quarters is a luxury I have, no more.

Now, Declan needs some space to play.  Apparently, a lot of space.  I can be (*gulp*) flexible.  I can accept some STUFF around and still (kind of) function.   This is just one more COVID transition or adaptation to make.  I can do this!

So, I claim the dining room table, my working space, as my own clean space.  To sit and read or write.  Pay bills.  And watch as the weather unfolds itself with great ferocity outside my window.

(I wrote this yesterday, but was unable to post as we ended up losing power for over 8 hours.  After acquiescing the generator was not going to work, we collected candles and flashlights.  By the end of the night there were four headlamps sitting around a table, blinding each other while we played games as Declan walked around watching his well charged device.  Thankfully, power has been restored, the weather has cooled (some), and I am back to shuffling around Declan’s STUFF.)

28 thoughts on “STUFF Everywhere

  1. Congrats on surviving the storm and blackout! I can understand and chuckle at the thought and the sight of too much stuff and especially more so when you are living with each other during a lockdown. Laughing at the thought of Declan going back up the stairs with the stuff you threw down in tow!

    1. Thank you! Haha, I know – I have thrown the stuff down the stairs a few times now, and I think it is because of Declan’s reaction. It cracks me up! I guess it is the little things 🙂 .

    1. We just lost power again. I could hear a not nice word from the basement. Uh-oh. Ours was bad. Flooding and power outages everywhere. Gas stations are down. I’m headed out in a bit to see if I can fill up some gas cans somewhere.

  2. I’m sorry but I actually chuckled from the moment I saw the picture and all the way through your description of your house. It took me back to when my three kids were young and had stuff everywhere. Ouch – Legos. Only my experience was minus leaks and, more importantly, minus COVID and work from home. I kept thinking (sympathetically with no chuckles) wait until school starts. Keep the sense of humor I guess.

    1. Oh, I know! I am going to have a plushie battle in one corner with a geometry lesson in the other. Oy! I could quite possibly lose my mind. A sense of humor is going to be key!

  3. This made me smile because it reminds me of our house. Our finished basement is now an office too because of Covid. I finally put my foot down and claimed a small spot of my own that no one is to touch. It is a bookcase but it is mine! I can put things on it and find them again because I know where I put it and no one is to touch the items on it without my permission first. I can find stamps, my keys, the chocolate bar I am saving for when I NEED a bite of chocolate and there is nothing in the house. It has been heaven.

    1. Yes! I totally get what you are saying. The dining room table is mine. I have claimed it for my space. I think that is all I need. Some small space JUST for me!

  4. I’m sitting here looking at the “jail” that got dragged into our tiny living room months ago. Dominoes toppled on the floor and scattered by Dogzilla… ugh! Looking at the clutter gives me anxiety.
    I’m not a neat freak, but I don’t want to do an obstacle course to get to the bathroom.

    Basements are very, very rare in California. We just dont have them.🤷🏼‍♀️ It would be nice to have a place for all the Stuff!

    Glad it’s a little cooler. I hope Mother Nature is a little calmer so Bob doesnt have to empty his pockets into the Swear Jar.💖

    1. Oh my word, we definitely do not handle the heat well. And the power went back out again. I feel bad for him because he has work that is not getting done and it is causing him to get upset. He firgures he will have to work through the weekend to catch up. I finally got the generator working, so we have sketchy wifi, the fridge, a device charging and a fan to help cool him off. I think my next post will be titled “extension cords” instead of stuff! 🙂

  5. Yes, yes, yes! So much STUFF… my youngest is a creator – and has a gazillion craft supplies. I don’t want to stifle creativity, but it can be overwhelming looking at piles and piles (and piles) of stuff. My oldest loves puzzles, so that means the card table is up in the living room while a puzzle is in progress. I sew masks (and we eat, do schoolwork, play games, etc.) at the dining room table. Over the last few weeks we have begun to organize a little bit at a time…. but it feels painfully slow. I always say to my kids, “Just like fish, we grow to our bowl!”

    1. That is a good analogy! Oh my, there are PILES everywhere. My dining room table area is the same. We do the schoolwork here, eat dinner and I had to move my sewing machine (and all my fabric and supplies) up here too. There is just stuff everywhere!

  6. That’s so tough for you. Those long power cuts are just no fun. They drag. The anxiety they produce. Our stuff has slowly taken over. My exercise bike and weights found a home in the garage. That filled up. Then it went into the Conservatory – that was perfect. But Son now uses that room. So now my fitness stuff is outside. x

    1. I’ve had to move all my fitness stuff upstairs too. It is now on top of the school bags table, next to the coat rack which is housing a TV/Nintendo/Sega system. Oy. Too much stuff! We are on day three of no power. I think we are all losing our minds!

  7. Wow, it’s amazing how different the weather was here. It rained, but just like a rainy day and the sun was out by 1:00. We’re fully out of the stuff phase of child rearing and I couldn’t be happier. We’re fortunate to have a lightly used living room that we could convert into an office. No one is in anyone’s way.

    1. The power came on last night and went out again. At least it cooled the house off for a little bit and I got some laundry done. This no power thing is terrible. I was happy to get past all those years of diapers. Next comes the stuff. I don’t miss the diapers and I doubt I will miss having things everywhere.

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