Administering Tough Love

Adam and I are natural pack rats and tend toward clutter so it's good that we have each other to administer some tough love when it comes to getting rid of stuff. Fortunately, I had no problem getting rid of Adam's stuff, namely his bloated wardrobe. Unfortunately for me, Adam had no problem getting rid of my collections of what he calls, "random crap," or my collections of Hello Kitty paraphernalia and other doo dads that serve no apparent purpose. While I'm the worst, we each whine, argue, negotiate and pout when the other tries to throw stuff out. The process is painful for all involved, but ultimately good so last week I tried to do the same for plasticmom's spare room. I expected some of the same resistance and dynamics, but plasticmom was actually much better behaved than I usually am and we did have some hilarious moments including the following reconstructed conversation that occurred shortly after I tried to convince plasticmom to get rid of any bags she had multiples of:

plasticann: [opening up a plastic bag] Let's see what you have in here. [pulls out a stack of small zippered pouches] Are these all the same?
plasticmom: Yes, you can't get rid of those because I use them everyday and I got them from Japan.
plasticann: [incredulously] How many do you have? One, two, three...five...nine, ten, eleven. You have eleven of the same little pouch?
plasticmom: They're perfect and I love them!
plasticann: Do you really need eleven of the same thing?
plasticmom: Well, you see...the store that sells them always looks like they're about to go out of business so every time I go to Japan, I'm always afraid they'll close down soon and I won't be able to buy any more pouches. So I buy a couple more every year, but somehow they always manage to stay in business the next year I go back so now I have a lot of these pouches.
plasticann: [laughing]
plasticmom: You can't throw those out, I spent $X on those pouches and I love them.
plasticann: I can't believe you spent $X on all these pouches. Don't worry, I won't even ask you to get rid of these since you're clearly commited to these pouches.
plasticmom: I use a new one every year.
plasticann: That's great, why don't you switch to a new one today. You've been using blue, how about a red one for a change?
plasticmom: No, we have to use blue. Blue is for when I'm in the country and Red is for when I travel internationally.
plasticann: Okay, blue it is. By the way, what do you do with the old worn out pouches?
plasticmom: I was afraid you were going to ask.
plasticann: Oh no...you keep them somewhere, but but you have an eleven year supply of new ones.
plasticmom: Of course I keep the old ones. When I use up my new pouch supply, I'll be really old like the old pouches I'll then be reusing.
plasticann: [dejected] Alright, keep the pouches...I won't argue with you.