I am not a hoarder. I’ve seen the sad episodes on talk shows of people who live in homes with paths to their beds that have a tiny spot on which to sleep. My own grandma was a bit of a packrat. But I am not a hoarder, not even close. I am a collector.
If you walked into my house, you’d look around and think, nope, not even a collector. This woman and her family live a pretty sparse life (until you look in the children’s rooms—gah!). Even the dog has only 2 toys. But wait until you see the attic. Boxes upon boxes, all empty. Therein lies the collection. When my dh and I were first married, we were pretty unstable where we lived. He was in law school and we moved twice in those first 3 years, then 3 more times in the year after he graduated. By the time we moved into our current house, we had moved a grand total of 9 times in 8 years and we weren’t military. After our first move across country—and across Arkansas!—we learned to keep original boxes to keep items in good condition, hence the box collection.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to paint my dd’s room, which necessitated moving all her furniture out to give me some room. We were using the space under her captain’s bed for storage and since she’s getting older, I’ve decided to move that stuff out so her things can go under her bed. Where to put all that junk that’s under her bed? (For the record—it’s my mil’s!) Up the ladder I went to the attic and discovered my collection of carseat boxes. Heh. So many! So many for so many seats I no longer have! Really, though, I did have to keep them in case I had to ship a seat back to a manufacturer (I’ve done it) or ship a seat to a friend (yep, done that too). Have you ever tried to MacGyver a box to fit a carseat? Really tough, I tell you. It’s easier to break them down flat and store them, only I didn’t do that with the ones in the attic. We had the luxury of a little bit of space up there, so we pitched them off to the side and forgot about them. After pulling them out of the attic, plus a few other boxes of items I knew we no longer had, it turns out I had 2 boxes for carseats I no longer have and 2 more for carseats that will be expiring soon! Plus I have at least 3 other carseat boxes stored flat in my garage.
Dh decided to continue my attic box removal and brought down perhaps 10 more. We also had 2 large boxes sitting in our living room that held dd’s new bedside tables. I so wish I had a window open when the recycling guy came by to pick up all our boxes. The amount of cardboard sitting on the curb was epic, but I do feel better recycling it rather than throwing it away like most of my neighbors. Next we’ll be getting rid of all of our ancient computers that have long been broken and sitting around the house gathering dust. I might have to make artwork out of the hard drive platters—they’re actually quite beautiful when you take the drives apart. But that’s for another blog. Just remember, it’s not an obsession—it’s a collection.
I’m Elaine and I’m a box-oholic LOL. We consciously decided *not* to put them in the attic b/c we knew they’d accumulate and multiply forever – *but* we have flattened boxes tucked behind dressers and un-flattened boxes that have practically become furniture.
We *do* have one practical use for the ones in the garage though – our cat has claimed many of them for a 100% post-consumer recycled cat scratcher and our old FPSV boxes and backs have become a cat play structure (you know you’re a car seat geek when your cat’s play structure has EPS foam LOL – photos here http://car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=173809)
Not sure how else to contact y’all but after we were in an accident today, I was researching my insurance company’s website and am appalled.
http://www.allstate.com/tools-and-resources/car-insurance/car-seat-safety.aspx
FACE THE RIGHT WAY
Car seats should always be installed in the back seat of the vehicle, and infants should ride in rear-facing seats until they are 1 year old and at least 20 pounds. When children reach 20 pounds, drivers should switch their children to forward-facing seats. The next step is a booster seat until the age of 8 or a height of 4′ 9″. After that, the child should sit in the backseat and use the standard adult seatbelt.
and
Car seats should be replaced after a moderate or severe crash. Car seats are largely self-contained, but consider purchasing a “seat saver” to put under the car seat if your car has leather seats. It will help keep your car’s seat clean and prevent the car seat from sliding.
Alas, I only have a basement, where extra cardboard is verboten bc of mold. Box collecting cuts across gender, though: On one of those home showsa few years ago, there was this couple whose home was filled with electronics boxes — for the flat screen, the computers, the laptops, the game consoles, everything. They were all the husband’s, and he got really anxious when the host was talking to him about why he had to at least weed down his “collection.” He was sputtering about how if there is a recall or a defect (the notorious XBox red spot incident was his example), he would need the proper packaging to ensure the gadget’s safety. The wife just rolled her eyes.
Mine are in my crawl space 🙂 At least the 2 for the Frontiers & Safeguard Go. Another holds spare covers & a NBB, and one is currently empty but has stuff stacked on it, I should really move that one to the crawl space. I kept all the stroller boxes too until we got rid of the strollers.
I’m just jealous you guys have attics.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one with an attic full of carseat boxes! Lol!
LOL, that is my attic too. We cleaned it out over the summer and there were boxes for 8 seats I no longer had. Dh was not amused ;). Then there were the boxes for all the big toys, most of which we no longer had. We want to move in the future so I had been storing boxes that looked like good moving boxes. Dh declared he would buy moving boxes when the time comes if I would just get rid of the ones from the attic. He kept saying if there was a fire, the whole house would go because the attic covers the whole house and it was a giant fire hazard. I caved. Now there is a big car seat box filled with flattened car seat boxes neatly next to the attic door. That is it, no more extra cardboard. Hopefully he remembers his promise to buy those moving boxes whe the time comes. I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes to hang onto boxes.