(I don’t know if declutterism is a word, but I just decided it should be one.)

I’m thinking about my kids and whether I could have predicted which ones would or wouldn’t become declutterers.

The messiest one is now into minimalism; go figure. The neatest one (well, let’s say the most organized) is still fairly neat. Another messy one has quite a bit of stuff in their house, but all of it is much loved and was curated to go together, so that it’s actually quite an interesting house and not messy at all. Then there is the one who is emotionally attached to everything and it must not be moved around.

They are fairly true to the way they were in childhood except for the one who’s into minimalism. That one has several small children and I think the minimalism is a reaction to the kiddie chaos. After all, it’s important to feel you have something under control when you live in chaos.

As I’ve mentioned in a few of my books, I was not a messy kid but I was very emotionally attached to my many beloved dolls, books, records, craft supplies, etc. I used all of my things and some showed the wear (I prefer to think of those items as looking well-loved.) I am certainly not a minimalist and was forced into declutterism out of necessity. I never would have predicted that I would someday live with a minimum of stuff. But then I didn’t know I was going to end up in a small house. (That life event was precipitated by another life event as explained in my latest book, Memoirs of a Downsized Declutterer.)

Do your childhood clutter habits show up in how you live today, or have you changed completely?