PenPenWrites
parenting blog, memoir notes, family punchlines & more
recent posts
© Penelope Lemov and Parenting Grown Children, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given.
recent posts
© Penelope Lemov and Parenting Grown Children, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given.
Category: downsizing
-
Our closets are full. So is the attic, basement and every cranny that can hold papers, memorabilia and photo albums. To say nothing of unused dishes, scarred pots and chipped figurines. Getting rid of some or all of that stuff is formidable. It looms like a climb up a mountain of slag. And yet, do we…
-
I've written, possibly too often, about how cleaned-out closets are part of our legacy to our children and other assorted heirs. That is, whether they're in basements, attics or closets, the collections of items we no longer use and we know our kids don't want should be dealt with by us. We should chuck those…
-
Long-time readers know how I've ranted about an important part of the legacy we leave our children. That is, besides the assets and the sense of our values we leave our children, we should clean out the mess of papers and junk stored in our closets, basements, attics and crannies of our house. I have…
-
This is a post I wrote several years ago. It's my simple guide to right-sizing or downsizing or just cleaning and clearing out closets that are jammed too full of stuff. My motivation for clearing my closets (and attic storage) was a move from a house to an apartment. But another incentive was in…
-
There comes a time when the kids are grown and the house we raised them in is too big, too much to maintain, a burden to carry or a source of little and big repair bills. The roof might need replacing. The driveway is cratering. The washer and dryer are aging out. Or all of…
-
National Gallery, Hannah Steele “You are my inspiration,” my friend Eva tells me. She’s not referring to anything creative or ingenious I’ve done. The reference is to the method that helped me downsize/right-size from a sprawling 4-bedroom suburban home (where Paterfamilias and I brought up two children) to a tight, two bedroom urban apartment that’s…
-
Line up your legacy to keep the family peace over the sentimental stuff.
-
Meet your new life advisers: Your grown kids.
-
Whether we’re parting with our home or from our spouse, our grown children feel the pain.
-
The shoe is on the other foot.Our grown kids offer us emotional support during a traumatic time: We’re selling our home of 40-odd years and moving on.
PenPenWrites 