Baby boomers' childhood imprint

 My daughter having moved into her new home came back to clear her room in my house. By the end of the day she dumped half a dozen big garbage bags of stuff while another handful await donation to the Salvation army. She literally threw 70 % of the things in her closet and room. When I started to peek into the bags she stopped me immediately just to ensure I didn't retrieve something . "No hoarding Mum" she warned.

Why do many baby boomers find it difficult to part with items? Well it has to be habits cultivated from childhood. Just recall the frugal lifestyle when we were young. As a vain little girl I really looked forward to Chinese New Year because that was the only day in a year when we got to wear new shoes and dresses meaning one pair of shoes and one or two sets of dresses have to last for the whole year. Colour pencils had to be used until their length was too short for little fingers to hold, uniforms worn until the edges of the pinafore frayed and toys were not bought but gifted once in a blue moon by a visiting relative from afar. Hence every item was precious and kept until it was worn out. Since there wasn't much to possess, one shelf in a family shared cupboard was sufficient for each child. 

Well as the post WW2 economy boomed and upon reaching adulthood, we baby boomers enjoyed the income undreamed of by our parents. It unleashed the freedom and thrill to buy up things like property, cars and all kinds of electrical and consumer stuff. Yet we find it difficult to discard hence the accumulation. There are quite a few reasonings contributing to this habit.

We think we will fix every broken down item. Remember shoes with broken strap had to be sewn back and soles replaced before the next pair at CNY. My husband who grew up in a sprawling unkempt kampung house will keep every broken down electrical appliance as the components may be needed to repair another. 

The more space you have at home the more the accumulation. In the midst of nagging at the clutter created by my husband at our backyard, I did sense that he was intuitively recreating the old kampung house  environment where he had a happy childhood. Thus I had to close one eye just to let him keep his Linus security blanket.

Then nostalgia will keep us from parting with mementos or any item which will remind us of pleasant times. Hence stacks of birthday/mother/father day cards and photo albums of family holidays occupy closets. One must understand many of us never celebrated our growing up birthdays. Our parents were just too busy or too poor to remember every child's birthday. Family outings were rare not to mention family holiday. Thus celebrating our birthdays at adulthood and family holidays are new found treasures.

We also keep items because we harbour hopes. We keep an ill fitting dress because we hope we will be disciplined enough to fit into it. We keep novel after novel hoping one day we will read all of them. 

Lastly there is the fear of making the wrong decision when we toss something in the garbage bag. Baby boomers fear regrets and were "raised to avoid failing at every turn". Think of times when you looked for something only to recall with regret you have thrown it away. Even if it rarely occurs that unpleasant feeling has to be avoided. Thus it is risk free to keep an item.

So millennias must understand its all about stability and security which baby boomers are trying to grasp since young. As pathetic as it sounds, childhood imprint is really impactful.