should childhood possessions be removed?

I would keep it and get them to go through it and decide what they want to keep - before you move. The one with the house can take their things but I don't think the ones at uni could do that so I would keep it till they have a house. Our DC toys and books are now being recycled as DGC grow into them eg. doll's pram, dollies, marbles, Roald Dahl books, duplo. I love it!

I not only have some of my sons' stuff (mostly the younger one) in the loft and various cupboards I also have quite a lot of my mum's which I couldn't part with - her school books, 21st cards from 1941 and a full set of encyclopaedias from when she was a child which are very battered but sentimental as I remember pouring over the pictures when I was a child. As the youngest now lives on the other side of the world I'm pretty sure he won't be taking his army memorabilia or school books back when he's here next month but as he's bringing his own two small boys to his family home for the first time I'm pretty sure he'll want to rummage through anything he might find for them to look at.

Can't believe your MIL Granny23! What a shame for your husband. Sometimes it's not so much about the storage but as already said, the rummage through for overseas children as each time they return their lives have moved on so they see their possessions differently and either definitely do or don't want it. The 18 year old will never think they will want My Little Pony for their own children but the 28 year old will

A friend of mine said his mother contacted him when she was arranging to move house and told him if he wanted to keep anything of his that was still at her house, he needed to come and get it by a certain date. Sounds reasonable.

Mine are in their 30's. Nothing of DS except photos of course. Duvet cover kept as DD says she will want it when she has kids. Two boxes under the settee with all their teenage cards/photos/school records etc all ready to go once twin DDs have their own family as I believe that then, everything in the boxes really will have the necessary nostalgia factor. I have all my mums bits now and derive comfort from having so much of 'her' still with me

I moved to a boat...no space anymore. My eldest helped me box her's and her sibling's stuff up. They have their own stuff now as they have the room and I don't. I don't think there is any right or wrong way to deal with children's things. It is all to do with who has the space.

My grandchildren LOVE their parents old LEGO. It will last for many generations!

If you have crates of lego in the attic keep it for goodness sake. My grandchildren love playing with their father's lego and in a way, it stirs their imagination more than the modern stuff which is all laid out for them. They make their own lego people with plasticine and the old road layout for his cars is now in the spare room covered in lego houses and trucks. They always make a beeline for it.

When my children got their permanent homes then the good toys stored, Lego, Fisher Price, Brittain's, Hornby came down from the loft and were divided up plus a few mementos they wanted to have. Their own children play with the toys. I have a box of mementos and a few favourite soft toys in the cupboard at the top of the wardrobe.

Like you I have 2 sons and a daughter. Once they were all settled in their own homes I asked them what they wanted to take with them and what they wanted me to save, bearing in mind that I had moved a couple of times so needed to be minimalistic. I now have one pretty box full of my “treasures” and my memories of their childhood, I even took photos of bits that had to go, but I still wanted the memory. Men are always more brutal than women when it comes to having clear outs !

Twiggy
Normal conduct for some is not normal conduct for others.Myself I have no objection to having items belonging to my children left at my home.
Should I not have the space to keep them it would be 'come and fetch your belongings or I will have to dispose of them?.' Take it from there.

this issue makes me think about how many possessions the younger generation actually own. I left Home at 18 with my clothes in one black bin liner, my teddy under my arm, and some books in a carrier bag.

Agree with a previous poster that if two of your DC are still in university they still need to consider your home as their hom, even if you have moved. My DD found work locally after graduating so returned to live with us for a few years before finally moving out.

One day they will have responsibility for clearing it all out and storing it. In the meantime it remains in the family home.

I think your husband is being a bit premature here, I think you better tell him gently that the two at Uni may well be back when they finish! It could be years before they own their own homes. We seem to have spent years throwing stuff out but the DC get a chance to look at all the bits and pieces and have taken some and told us to chuck others. The last thing I handed over was all their baby arrival cards which I kept, if they have now thrown them away so be it. Yes keep the Lego much loved by all DGC.

My son left lots of boxes with me when he moved away.... trouble is he lives in Australia.

As each of my three children married and bought their own homes they took anything they wanted. I still have most of their old toys which are now in the Toy Room where their children play. At Christmas I still display their school made decorations (well...some of them). Your children's past is also yours. That time is something you've all shared so keep what makes you happy. Even though that means boxes of Sylvanian Families and Lego coming with you when you downsize as we did.

Ditto! We could share a crate and ship it all out Persistendonor
(payment at the other end of course)

What a rotten shame granny23

The poster that said whittle it down into small boxes & keep till they are able to store themselves is the best idea, but don't chuck it!

My attic is FULL! My Son's wah-wah peddles, amps, guitars, some guitars dotted round house, as I think it looks good. My darling GD sometimes has a play on them lol & she's only 2yrs Guitar stands, computers, photos, books & on & on, Of course school & Uni stuff & good toys that I thought could be passed down to GC. Then my youngest D's stuff, I have a ballet bag full of her dance shoes, photo's of the birth of my beloved first GD-all left behind. Both these AC I haven't seen for 5yrs due to estrangement caused by my precious GD's stepdad & his mother My estD has nothing from her childhood!
My niceD tells me to get rid, get a skip and fill it, but I can't! I even have a spider plant that my youngest D 'made' at school when she was 11yrs. keep trying to thin it out, make more plants from the original, try to give some to ND, but she refuses them lol But can't chuck it

All their stuff is actually stopping me moving, as I would move into a small place, being on my own now, and just wouldn't have space for all my stuff & half my furniture, let alone all theirs! Also hate getting into the attic, haven't been up in a year!

I’ve moved a couple of times since my DDs left home and still have some of their treasures that I’ve moved with me. Younger DD particularly is only now in the process of buying her first home, but I imagine once she’s settled in she will have the last of her bits and pieces. I think I will feel quite sad when none of their childhood is here with me!!

If you have the space to store it then I really can't see what the problem is. Would your OH prefer that your AC pay to store stuff elsewhere? It would be a very different situation if you didn't have spare space.

If you put it in a box and label it as your own stuff, would OH be any the wiser?

I think the OP said they are going to downsize - the more stuff you need to be removed the more it costs!
So rationalising what they have and boxing it up (labelled) seems to be the best way forward.
That's the theory anyway, now I just have to get DD home to do that here.

My niceD has lot's of stuff up in the attic too, even though she has a big house of her own. Beautiful doll collection, one from her first Birthday, when we lived in Africa, it's a Vertrekker doll [the first Dutch folk to migrate to Africa] It's a collectors piece, with fine porcelain hands & feet. Also soft hand made 'Winnie-the-pooh', 'Andy Pandy' and the like, all one offs, so not to be chucked!

I didn't have a choice about keeping my DD s stuff, old letters, photo albums, travel books, bags of stuff in the loft.
She refused to take any of it.
Now she has her own house, I boxed up all,her travel books and albums and took them over to her house. She wouldn't ever collect anything willingly.
I am still,lumbered with some stuff but at least I now have some space to put my bedding on etc.
Am gradually working on the loft bags, but all in good time.
I noted that she has just stuffed everything I gave her into a cupboard, but not my problem.

My youngest son has moved to a flat near us but has brought yet again his stuff, to us I said we haven't the room and has to,d us to bin what we can't store! But I can't it's his stuff he should do it! Omg my poor husband is stepping over stuff in the garage yet again!!!