The current generation baffles me which is a sign that I am getting older.
The minute you stop understanding why a group of people act a certain way is the minute you have to look at yourself in the mirror and admit that you are approaching geezer-hood.
I have tried to stay current with music, social media and current events yet I constantly feel myself falling behind or I get an eye roll from my daughter which tells me that I’m way off the mark of what she considers to be cool.
I will take you back in time to 1987; I was moving out of my parents’ home and onto Edmonton to start university and was setting up my first apartment.
I couldn’t wait to set up my own place and spent months looking for items.
When I say looking I mean that I tried to pilfer as much of my mom’s stuff as I could to keep my costs down. When I was 18 I thought my parents had the coolest stuff, my mom had impeccable taste and I wanted all that I could get.
Fast forward to 2016 where my partner and I have children who are leaving home, attending university and embarking on careers.
There is a vast selection of things they could have to start them on their individual journeys such as decorative items, kitchen ware and furniture. In my opinion many of these items are wonderful (well, they are MY items!) and I figured that giving the kids a helping hand to start solo life would be a breeze. Was I mistaken!
Nobody – and I mean NOBODY wants anything!
Polite ‘I’ll think about it’ to direct nose in the air ‘uhh no thanks’ have been coming at us for weeks.
Beautiful items, stuff that they are going to have to buy is available and waiting but we have no takers. When I left home I was packing my old teddy bears and Michael Jackson posters along with anything I could steal from my mom and now I’m considering guerrilla decorating where I covertly drop things off on doorsteps and let the children deal with the items.
Do we have too much?
Does the current generation want for nothing or do they have a different view on material goods? Possibly they don’t want to be weighed down in materialism like their parents.
This makes the parents sad because we have saved things for them hoping they would take this treasure or that family heirloom with them when they moved along.
I was eager to decorate with gramma’s precious teacups or my mom’s candlesticks and now I have a hard time raising interest in my big screen television, I am so confused!
I can’t say I blame the current generation as I agree we all have too much stuff which I believe weighs our souls down.
Purging is always a good practice every few years to ensure that you have a fresh perspective on the items in your home. I heard a quote once that said, ‘Have nothing in your home that you don’t consider useful or beautiful’ and it sticks with me all the time when I am considering the space and useable items in my home. We can’t count on our kids to take it off our hands anymore!
Kim Wyse is a local freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Designer/Ask a Realtor’.
