A Room A Day #5

5. The Kitchen

 The issue with the kitchen, is that this is not just a room for furniture and appliances, it's the home to food. For many hoarders, food can be a dangerous and sensitive topic. My mother is always asking family members to save plastic bottles, wine bottles, chinese takeout containers, one-use tupperware like butter tubs, etc. The problem is, there is rarely a real use for these items, especially in the huge quantities that she keeps. This was the state of the kitchen several months ago. This kitchen was recently remodeled and all the cabinets were replaced. You can't see the bottom right drawer (behind a milk jug) but it's actually missing. I can't even remember the reason why it's missing, I just know that since the remodel, there's never been a drawer there. The issue with so much stuff in a kitchen, is that the more excess stuff, the less room there is for necessary things and most importantly, food.

 The refrigerator has been a sort of potluck for the last several years. Some things are common in every household; a bag of salad that hangs around a week too long, a few too many pieces of fruit or vegetables, and maybe a tupperware of leftovers past their prime. This photo, however, shows what my boyfriend and I saw the last time we were at the house. A moldy cucumber sitting in a dish of coagulated gravy (?), two full cartons of eggs plus the several loose eggs in the upper shelf, among other things. I have never been great about eating leftovers, and I know I've picked this up from my mother. I was trained not to eat leftovers in my parents' house because the leftovers were rarely edible. Pizza would be left exposed on a paper plate in the fridge, canned food would be set in the fridge uncovered, and often most food and liquids would hang around much past their prime.




On the left side, you can see the ice maker, crusher, and water machine on the refrigerator door. The red light represents the need to change the water and ice filter. That light has been on for nearly ten years. At one point my dad had figured out a way to trigger the light to go off, without changing the filter. This is like the person that will walk up to the TV to change the channel for months on end because they're too lazy to look for the remote. The water and ice at their home smells bad and tastes awful. When we came over, we brought bottled water with us so we wouldn't have to drink their water. The water is an example of how even though a closet may get cleaned out over a month, my parents are not living their life in a safe or healthy way. My dad has allergies to mold and dust, my mother has diabetes and they both have other health issues. I cannot and do not want to imagine what that water filter looks like, and what it's putting into their water.

The kitchen did look better the last time I stopped by. I gave my mom notice that I was coming by, and you'll see that the broom is still out. Notice though, you still can't see that missing drawer, this time it's hidden behind a gas station cup. Those are often throughout my parent's house. Like tupperware, it's something plastic with a lid, and is therefore reusable. Not only is a bottle or tupperware capable of being reused, it must be reused. There is a sense of obligation that my mother expresses. They came over at our last place and we ordered in chinese food. My mother was quick to claim all the tupperware after we were done eating. My boyfriend agreed that sometimes they do make good containers, but validated it by mentioning that we throw some away every time we get more.


I worry about their health. I know that my diet is not what it should be, and I know that part of that is because of the diet I had at home. When my boyfriend worked with my parents over the summer he got sick of going out to eat every single day with them. Every lunch and dinner was at or from the local pizza place, Mc Donald's, the local diner, or frozen food.