Homeless Mentality

This was what he collected this morning already.  I emptied the basket out last night...

Over the past few days I have found myself explaining the reason behind Blake's basket of collectibles he has gathered from around the house.  You see, he takes one of my laundry baskets and fills it with whatever he can get his hands on.  These are HIS things.  No touch!  He pushes this basket all over the house.  Into the bathroom for bath time.  Into the bedroom for sleeping.  Out the door to play in the yard.

We call it his Homeless Man Basket.  And it's funny, but quite honestly, very true.

You see...he is hoarding.  He is collecting, gathering, storing, hoarding--and you can bet your bottom dollar that you won't get your hands on his prized possessions.  They are his.

LEGO pieces, random socks, book, dirty pants, clean diaper, bra, kitchen pan, spoon, rock, remote control (first place I look now when it is missing!), dolls, crayons, Autum's pacifier (again, first place I look when it's missing), pillow, tupperware cup, old raisin box, half a cracker...you name it, it is in there!

He has developed this desire of collecting and hoarding, just from 2 year's of not possessing ANYTHING.  He had nothing to his name, not even a name, or at least one he recognized.  So now that he has the option to possess items, he is making up for lost time.

I haven't decided quite yet what to do about this hoarding business.  It may slow down as he begins to understand this is his home and he belongs here.  Or it may be a subtle underlying issue for his life.  I'm not sure.

But for now I will continue to build trust with him.

If nothing else, he is getting stronger physically, as his basket gets fuller and heavier, the more he has to push around!  There is always a silver lining.  :)