I am eagerly awaiting the day that video games can be seen as sentimental items. It sounds cheesy, but I associate a lot of growing up with video games. They bring back lots of memories of old friends and how my life used to be. Unfortunately, too many people see them as just “toys” or lump them in with other electronics and think they should be disposed of when they get old.

This didn’t used to concern me much, but now I am married. From what I can tell, the average American gets roughly 3% of the useable space in the house to store personal possessions. Wives can keep as many knick-knacks as they deem necessary, and are never expected to get rid of things even when space becomes limited. Women seem to be able to magically classify random items as “sentimental” and thus render them impervious to replacement or relocation.

When a husband runs out of his 3% of the home, it is time to throw some things away. When a wife runs out of room in the home, its time to buy a bigger home. Somehow this seems more than a little unfair.

My wife considers old furniture passed down from her parents to have sentimental value, and will not allow me to get rid of a single piece. I could understand if they were handcrafted antiques that the family brought over from Europe when they emigrated to this country. However, this is generic factory produced items ordered from Sears in the 1970’s. My wife and I have bought some furniture from Pier 1, and some from Target and Wal-Mart. I pray that my children will never feel a need to preserve these items simply because I used to keep them in my house. Particle Board should never become sacred.

Growing up, I can remember swapping games with people who I haven’t seen in 20 years. I can remember things that were going on in my life and in the world at the time I was playing certain systems. Many of these people and events only cross my mind when I think of video games. This should hold some value, but only gamers seem to respect my opinion.

I am expecting a son in 1 month and 3 days. I look forward to his arrival, but know that it will further restrict the amount of space I have available for my things. I accept this and wouldn’t have it any other way. However, I have come up with a plan to keep my games.