Occasionally, I get a call for help from a reader has all the markings of a class action suit — that is, one person acting on behalf of many (maybe you). Florida nurse practitioner Maureen Rabazinski’s email was just such a case. “Dear Marni,” she wrote.
“HELP! I want my house back! I want a house that reflects me and my husband while still occasionally welcoming our family and friends — not a home that has a revolving door. “Eight years ago, when our two sons flew the nest, my husband and I downsized to a single-story, four-bedroom, two-bath home on a beautiful pond. Soon after, our younger son came home from college and lived in the guest room for over a year as he figured out his next life steps.
We reclaimed the space, when he moved to Denver for a job and a girlfriend. Soon after his older brother moved in with his wife and their three children, while they waited for a new home they’d bought to be ready for them.” The guest room became a children’s playroom, filled with toys and two twin beds.
The baby’s crib landed in Maureen’s home office. Then her younger son boomeranged back. At last, everyone moved to homes of their own, but the stuff — beds, crib, toys — remains.
“I now want to make our home just ours again and eliminate the feeling of overwhelming chaos,” Maureen writes. “Specifically, our (primary) bedroom has an elliptical machine in the corner. It not only makes us feel guilty for not using it, but it also ruins the relaxing vi.