The problem of the Destroyer

My son is 3 years old.  Destroyer-of-Things sleeps on the floor of our bedroom on a terrible infant mattress.  His room is the unusable one. Last spring I made an empty threat that I would get a dumpster for the things in his room, so that he could sleep there.  It didn't happen and now we're in the process of gearing up for another battle over his room.  A couple steps down on the wuss meter for me after that effort. 

His room is the biggest problem for me at this time.  He needs a place where he can hang out and do Destroyer-of-Things things while the family tries to recover from his destruction.  If you can't imagine what a child who is nicknamed Destroyer-of-Things can do in a hoarders home, let me illuminate for you.

Imagine a box of toys.  It is a harmless little thing sitting in the middle of a room all by itself.  Imagine a box of kitchy stuff that will never get used sitting on top of that box of toys.  Now imagine a couple of piles of mail sitting on top of that box.  Now imagine Destroyer-of-Things deciding that he needs into the kitch and the toys.  Now imagine he doesn't actually play with any of it, just drags it around the house and then drops and leaves wherever only to return to the box the get after some more.  Now imagine a little blond boy of three with the cutest smile on his face and a trail of destruction left behind him.  Now multiply that by about 100 boxes. 

The problem isn't cleaning up after Destroyer-of-Things, it's cleaning up after him in what is already a difficult cleaning environment.   We can't really send him to a place to minimize the damage, because there is damage waiting to happen everywhere.  Hoarder doesn't see it this way, even though it affects her the most.  She says she knows it's a problem, but SHE needs to deal with HER stuff.  I'm pretty sure this is common with hoarders.  It is a way to push people away from trying to remove the stuff.  Tell them what they want to hear so they will back off.  Experts say that a forced cleaning is not a good way to get hoarders to separate from their hoard, that it will likely get them to collect faster and cling harder.  I am growing weary of waiting for her to come around.

Hoarder declared in a fit of defiance earlier this week that I would see, she'll have his room ready in two weeks.  I don't really buy it, but I will do everything I can to help her get rid of things.