BEING THE SISTER OF COLLECTORS

what it's like being the sister in a family of collectors - I'm the only one who doesn't have a house full of "stuff".

MY BROTHERS

This is part two of my posts about the "joys" of being related to people who have an obsession with accumulating "stuff" in their lives. The first post was about my dad and this one is about my two younger brothers who have followed in his footsteps. Neither of them have my commitment to a life without clutter!

My brothers never had a lot of time for my dad - probably because dad was too self absorbed to pay them any attention. Despite that, they have "inherited" his fascination with all things collectible. Both started off with small collections - one brother collected Murano glass bowls and vases, anodised aluminium kitchenware and fox furs (scary looking flea-bitten things that gave me the creeps but fascinated my kids.) He has rather eclectic tastes.

COLLECTING'S INTERESTING CONSEQUENCES

My youngest brother liked slot car racing for a while and had a whole set up - complete with individually painted audience members in the stands. He also carried on my father's interest in militaria and knives and bayonets. One time he rang to tell me that Customs officers had raided his house because they were suspicious of some magazines he had imported. I immediately thought he must have brought in porn or something - wrong type of magazines! He had ordered some replica machine gun bullet magazines and had set off alarm bells with Customs. Eventually they returned most of what they confiscated and it turned out to be a storm in a teacup - but very exciting for the family at the time.

what it's like being the sister in a family of collectors - I'm the only one who doesn't have a house full of "stuff".
The go-carts outside the giant "display" shed

THE SHED

Now days 'the Boys' (as I refer to my 50+ year old brothers) have moved on to collecting cars and like to use some of them for off road racing. They have erected a HUGE shed on my youngest brother's property (you can see a bit of it in the top picture) and in it they have on display all their go-carts, motorbikes, cars and memorabilia (and a drag car - complete with dummy driver) that they have been accumulating over the years - complete with man cave at the end to sit and admire it all from (a bit like my dad admiring his kingdom in the past). 

what it's like being the sister in a family of collectors - I'm the only one who doesn't have a house full of "stuff".
The Shed

NEATNESS

One similarity between the boys and myself is our neatness - they are as fanatical in their need to display and organize their collection as they are in collecting it in the first place. You could eat your dinner off the floor of the shed and every car is done up and shown in all its glory. All in all it makes my Pinterest collection look pretty tame.

Family dynamics fascinate me - the similarities and the differences.  The genetic makeup we each receive from our parents, and how that manifests into later life. I'm a little relieved that my collecting only goes as far as some glassware and perfume bottles - I don't have room for a car shed in our backyard!



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6 comments

  1. Interesting. I wonder how you escaped the hoarder gene. Maybe it's on the Y chromosome. ;-)

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  2. I'm not sure how I had the lucky escape Suzanne - my mum would definitely agree with the Y chromosome theory :)

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  3. I don't know about that, my mom is the hoarder around here. I'm not and I know my youngest brother isn't. The older three I don't know about.

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    1. so there goes the Y chromosome theory Rena - beats me what makes one person okay with tons of stuff and another person bewildered by it :)

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  4. I read your article on your Dad being a hoarder Leanne, however having brothers as well, that must have driven you crazy! Thanks for sharing this with us at #WednesdaysWisdom and see you next week.

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  5. No, not always the Y chromosome. My sister and I work very hard to NOT follow in Grandma and Mom's footsteps in this matter! (My sister's doing a better job of it than me LOL But...mine's all books and craft supplies - every single bit necessary!)

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