Mother-in-law keeps sending me husband's childhood stuff

[JetteZ]

You may benefit from reading up on minimalism (theminimalists.com is my favorite); it might not be something you are interested in but it may help explain the genuine enjoyment your MIL receives from letting go of things.

 

[AdamP88]

Seems simple enough. The parents shouldn’t have to store your husbands stuff forever. Either he wants it, in which case he should take it. Or he dumps it. No point being irritated at your in-laws. It’s up to him to sort out. Maybe he should go over some day and decide what stuff he wants and what stuff he doesn’t and clear his stuff out.

 

[bmaj]

It’s normal for many parents to want to pass their offspring’s belongings to them after they have a house of their own. It’s your husband’s responsibility to sort through it and donate, sell, or discard what he no longer wishes to keep. You shouldn’t have to do that unless you see something important you’d like to keep for yourselves, your future children, or simply as a memento. Your in-laws also may be trying to reduce any unused items in their house at this stage in their lives and may actually be thinking of how it may benefit you both years from now. After they pass on, you two may likely have the tedious and painstaking job of going through all of their belongings one by one in preparation for the sale of their house. That’s a huge chore which usually comes at a very sad time, and the less there is to sort through then, the easier it will be for you.

 

[DebCWil]

I come from a large family, which does mean that many things were stored in my mother’s house. The task fell first to my oldest sister as to how to divide the property, and then to my oldest brother. It can be difficult to sort who belongs to what over decades of moving around the world, and trying to be fair.
There may come a time when your in-laws may want to downsize to a smaller place. What brings them pleasure at this stage in their lives?

 

[HopenHappiness]

Over the years I asked my son to take his stuff I saved for him, so when one last time, I asked my son again if he wanted the stuff I saved for him. I asked him if he was sure, he said yes and I had him sign a piece of paper saying I had full power to do what I wanted with his stuff and he would not get mad. He and his wife were laughing over it. Jokes on them, been selling it off on Ebay bit by bit, he was a baby of the 80s with all the cool Transformers, GI Joes, etc and he took excellent care of his toys. I am keeping the better pieces in hopes of a grandchild, and if that doesn’t happen it will go to. He now realizes that he had made a mistake and should of taken that stuff. But he is a man of his word and does get excited for me when the prices go high. What he doesn’t realize I am putting the money in a separate account to plan one big fun filled vacation for all of us some day. Funny thing though, wife was quick not to take sons stuff, but when her mom wanted her childhood stuff gone, she took it all(LOL). If your tight on money, you might check and see if any of his stuff is worth money.

 

[Katie777]

I think your husband is fortunate to have a loving mom that cares about his feelings regarding sentimental things.

If he does not want these things anymore he can take a picture of some things that may take up too much room in your home before he tosses them.