The Hoarder

One of the more difficult things for my husband and I to deal with is Donny's hoarding. One of his psychiatrist said it was a behavior and control issue another said it was part of his OCD. All I know is that the boy has got to stop.
This brings up the difference between a pack rat and a hoarder. I am a prekindergarten teacher and the mother of 4 children, so it is natural for me to be a bit of a pack rat. Everything is so expensive anymore, so if I can save money, I will do it. Being a pack rat, I save things that I can use in my classroom, such as empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls, empty butter dishes and my newest project involves saving Miracle Whip squeeze bottles, thanks to a Pinterest idea.
A hoarder saves things just to have the things even if they serve no interest or purpose. I can't tell you how many times I have had to shoo my son out of the recycling bins at the school behind our house. The other day, he was riding his scooter out in front of the house, back and forth between the neighbors. He started going just a bit further and a bit further, then made a break for the house down the street, where the people had moved out and had left a pile of trash out in the front yard. He was obsessed with searching through the pile of trash to see if there were any treasures. He found 2 books that even though they were above his level he just had to save from the trash. When the neighbor next door moved out, Donny rescued a case of empty coca cola glass bottles, the little ones from back in my childhood, and an old trophy.
In the attempt to get him to take control of this, I have gone on strike. We have been trying to get him to clean his room now for 2 months. Last time he cleaned it, we threw 10 bags of trash. Its time to hire a crane to come in again. He won't sleep in his room because its too dirty. I have the roll of trash bags ready. I'm working on a motivator to get him to at least start the cleaning process, then I will go in and help him again shovel through his hoardering (is that a word?).
Donny's obsession with junk has gotten to the point that we even had to include something in his BIP at school to not let him bring "trash" home. His teacher and I even decided one year that he wasn't to bring a backpack because it became a vehicle for hiding things he would dig out of the trash.
My mother-in-law calls Donny her "Twister". Its very appropriate because he goes through my house like a tornado. It gets very frustrating when I am trying to clean the house. If I clean during the day while he's awake, I'll never get anything done. As fast as I clean an area, he has 2 more areas destroyed. He'll go into my room to look for something and totally turn my room upside down. There is a Charles Schulz character that I believe was based on my baby, although he is finally doing a better job about showering and stuff. We'll just keep taking it one day at a time. Between his meds and his therapies and the systems we have set up at home, I have faith that someday we will help him get control of his hoarding (hasn't happened it). In the mean time, if you come by for a visit, we can sit and chat in the yard. Have a pleasant day.