If you live in the same house for 20 years, chances are you’ll end up with a lot of stuff. I’ve seen the ever-growing shit pile proliferate in the homes of family and friends, which has led me to believe that owning copious amounts of stuff is just a common part of modern, American life.
I don’t think most people full appreciate how much stuff they own until it’s time to move. Or downsize. Or just do some serious Spring cleaning.
In fact, in some situations, my loved ones have genuinely no idea what’s in their house until they’re yanking boxes of soggy paperwork and forgotten holiday decorations out of the attic. Sometimes its larger things, too, like 20-person sets of dishware that were bought but never used, piles of old clothes, or appliances that were purchased on a whim and never served their purpose.
I always knew that cleaning out my childhood home would be a massive chore. When I’ve visited home over the years, I’ve occasionally brought back old grade school memory boxes, important documents, and toys and trinkets that I didn’t want to lose.
But now it’s crunchtime. My mom is planning to move, and we’re starting to make big decisions about what to do with all the stuff we’ve collected over the years.
A lot of that stuff is stashed in her basement, collecting dust and bug carcasses. Growing up, the basement wasn’t a place we hung out in, but rather a holding cell for things like camping gear, suitcases, school stuff, craft supplies, tools, and piles of outdated electronics that my parents collected over the course of their engineering careers.
In a way, that downstairs space feels like a time capsule. Not only is it full of stuff from my childhood, but so many of the items we’ve held onto are things my dad bought when he was still around that we haven’t been able to part with.
My dad was someone who got into many different hobbies over the years. He loved collecting stuff, but also never went through his things. Much of the basement clutter can be attributed to him (though if he was around, he might see things differently).
I recently went home for a short trip to help my mom go through the basement. Sifting through junk down there is equally exciting and stressful. On one hand, it feels like a treasure hunt — sometimes you find things you forgot about years ago, like a photo album or an old computer, which dredges up nostalgic memories.
But other times you find yourself knee-deep in a pile of old papers or plastic storage bins full of miscellaneous garbage and wonder why your family bothered to keep so much crap in the first place. I’m sure my mom wonders this on a daily basis, since she’s the one doing the majority of the work getting that place cleaned up.
Anyway, during my brief time in the basement this month, I found a few treasures worth saving. I tried not to take home too much stuff, since I really don’t have the space for it. But I thought it’d be fun to show you some of the items I grabbed, especially ones that once belonged to my dad:
1. Dad’s ice cream maker
One summer, my dad got really fixated on the idea of making homemade ice cream. I don’t know what prompted this, but he was clearly pretty invested because he also bought an extra bowl insert (so that you could make a second batch right after the first one) and a ton of quart-sized ice cream containers to store his creations in.
I remember he got pretty excited about the idea of trying different flavors. He bought some really fancy vanilla (which my mom still uses today) and I think we also had some kind of salted caramel chips or syrup. The ice cream turned out really good, but for some reason the hype didn’t last.
I can’t recall the last time I saw my dad use this thing. I’m pretty sure it was just a single summer when he bought and used the ice cream maker. Anyway, we still have some rock salt, so Ryan and I will give it a try this summer and see if the habit sticks.
2. Beta-Brite
I don’t really know the story of this one, but it definitely feels like a dad purchase, since he loved buying gimmicky electronic gadgets. And I have no idea what he would’ve used it for. Maybe just the pure enjoyment of being able to program his own LED sign that you’d see in the window of a store at the mall or something.
I didn’t feel like taking it out of the box for a picture, but I think you can get the gist of what the Beta-Brite does. It comes with a remote control that allows you to program custom messages onto the sign.
This is one of those things that I probably won’t use much, but it’s fun to have. Maybe we’ll break it out at a party or something.
3. A gently used wok
I have no idea how much my parents used this, if at all. But this wok was one of the things I found in the basement as was like, “why wouldn’t I take it home”?
I think the wok came in a larger set of kitchen tools, but for some reason my parents didn’t have a use for it. So it’s been sitting on a shelf in the basement for a while.
It’s basically brand new, and I’ve always wanted to try cooking with one. I watch a lot of cooking videos on Insta and TikTok and love seeing people toss stir fry around in a giant wok. It looks like fun.
4. The most ridiculous coffee maker
This coffee maker was my dad’s pride and joy. I had to take it home with me.
The picture on the box doesn’t do it justice, but this coffee maker is truly ridiculous. It’s a massive appliance — taking up so much counter space that we had a large, separate kitchen cart that we stored it on — and can make just about any coffee drink. Espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, you name it.
It was like being at a coffee shop, but more fun since you got to make the drinks yourself. My dad loved making guests fancy beverages when they came over. He would also make a point to make everyone lattes at breakfast on the weekend.
The fun thing about owning this coffee maker is that it’s something I’d never buy myself. I’m perfectly happy with our pour over set and French press, but I’ll admit it’s exciting to have another tool we can use to make coffee when we feel like it.
The only downside is that this coffee maker is so big and heavy that I don’t even know where we’re going to store it. Honestly, it might end up taking up a ton of closet space and not seeing the light of day too often. But at least we have it for nostalgia’s sake.
5. Japanese with Ease
My dad worked for a few Japanese companies when I was growing up, and his job required him to travel to Japan on occasion. I was so young at the time that I don’t know where he went in the country or what kinds of things he did while he was there. But at some point he had to learn Japanese, and in the basement I found a box of his old language learning books and tapes from the 90s.
There’s two sets of cassettes from a series called Japanese with Ease, which is, frankly, a great name for a language course. My old cassette player is broken but I’d like to find a way to digitize these so that I can listen to them on my computer.
Finding dad’s Japanese language stuff did make me a little sad, though. I’ve always wondered what he did when he went to Japan (probably boring work stuff, but I’m sure he did some sightseeing too). I never had a chance to ask him, and I often wish I still could.
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