What do I do?
Dear Prudence,
I am a senior in high school and live with my mom and dad, who are intelligent and loving people I admire greatly. My mother has an office at work and at home, but seems to feel that every available surface, including the dining room and living room, is a place for her to put her papers, print-outs, files, folders, etc. Both the second and third floor of the house are wall-to-wall messes of books, papers, magazines, clothes. The back staircase can’t be used anymore because it is overflowing with her collections of whatever. It’s hoarding, which even my father acknowledges but won’t do anything about. I value cleanliness and organization, and it makes me sick to come home every day to rooms that look like a tornado has ripped through them. My mother is adamant that I don't touch or move the piles of stuff and gets angry when I try to throw anything out. I’ve tried to call a "family meeting" to talk about it, but she says I'm the one with the problem for being "hypersensitive.” My father just says she’s always been like this and next year I’ll be in college. Is there anything I can do to make my mother see?
—Can't Stand the Clutter!