Do you hide your favorite objects when...............?

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Do you hide your favorite objects when a stranger or a relative comes in your house? A Comcast technician came to work on my cable service which required him to come in my bedroom. I'm glad that he called before he arrived or he wouldn't have gotten in. I hid all of my favorite objects today so he didn't see them. Since I have quite a backhoe loader model collection plus my 2 favorite backhoe loader models and being a woman, I really felt weird about anyone seeing them.

Naaaw. Everyone knows I'm goofy already, so them seeing my stuff would be a moot point. On the other hand, hardly anyone comes over, and I like to keep my bedroom private because, well, because it's my bedroom!

Yes, if I can help it..!

I remember one time when I was at work and my boyfriend invited some of his friends over to our place.

The thought of people coming over when I wasn't there myself made me feel really uncomfortable, and I didn't really figure out WHY right away, I just knew it felt iffy.

After some time pondering this I realised I felt this way because I hadn't been there to "screen" the apartment to make it visitor friendly and my oblivious boyfriend would never think to do so.

I couldn't remember if I, say, had any open books on the coffee table (like "Anal Pleasure and Health", that would have been a nice one.......), had left a dvd or game cover somewhere, if there was any dirty underwear lying in plain sight in the laundry basked in the bathroom, I was worried about someone going through my bookshelf (very precious to me) or otherwise simply pawing at MY STUFF.

This apartment is also my first *own* home and it was very freeing when I moved to just keep all the stuff I love on display, not hide it away.
I have an interest in BDSM and have a lot of books about it that I now keep in the living room bookshelf, it's my god damn home for f**k's sake, I should be able to.

What also bothered me was the possibility of his friends making fun of me and my interests since it's so prominently (to me) displayed around the apartment.

I was completely in tatters over this and asked my boyfriend a million times when I came home if anyone touched any of my stuff.

I now know I absolutely hate having people in my apartment when I'm not there myself. I feel violated.
If I know about it beforehand I could take the necessary precautions, but even if the place is "visitor-proofed" it just feels wrong to have people there.
It feels like they're in my head without my permission.

Gah...

No but my ex boyfriend used to hide his flashdrive because he supposedly had something on there that would make him famous one day.

I used to be like that.

It was weird because it felt like I was trying to hide pornography or something like that. I even used to make sure that any books about Autism or Asperger's Syndrome were completely out of sight.

But a few years ago I decided that my home is my safe place. It's where I don't have to pretend that I'm normal. It's where I shouldn't have to worry about being over-stimulated, where I don't have to worry about looking people in the eye or being socially acceptable.

If anybody else is going to come into my house, my safe place, then they're just going to have to accept the fact that I'm autistic or go somewhere else.

So I'm 41 years old and I have all my Doctor Who and Godzilla toys on display, and I don't try to hide them everytime the Landlord or one of his maintenance people come over to fix something.

Usually they'll spend 5 to 10 minutes looking at all the "weird" stuff on my shelves or hanging on my walls before they start whatever it is they supposed to do, but once they get to work they tend to finnish up as quick as they can just so they can get out of there.

I'd probably hide the red, stuffed bear on my computer desk. And maybe a few of the stim toys that are laying around.

Part of why is that I don't care to see any dumb reactions from people, and part is that I don't like unknown/unsafe/strange people touching my stuff (I don't even like them looking at my favorite/special objects).

I keep my favourite objects on display for visitors to see. To hide my objects is to hide myself. I don't feel that I have anything to hide from people.

I am not sure if diapers count but I try to remember to hide them if I know someone is coming over. But I tend to forget to hide them so they come over and I always forget I have them out so they end up seeing them. Mostly my husband's family. But they have never said anything about it to me. One time my mother in law saw them and asked if they were my son's and my husband said no and she said oh and said nothing else. But they were actually his (husband's) so she probably ended up thinking they were mine since she knows I wear them. I also have a couple of WetSet magazines and I don't ever look at the but I kept them on the bookshelf and since no one looks at my books, I didn't bother hiding the magazines since no one will see them. I also have some autism books and they were out in the open for anyone to see but I never hid them either.

I also have kid movies and children movies but I never hid those either. I also have tons of video games and I didn't hide them either. I also have a Teletubby blanket and a Dalmatian pillow case and I don't hide those either.

I am terrible at hiding stuff now because it's my own apartment so I don't tend to hide anything. then it has became a habit so I forget to put away my diapers and hide them. Same as plastic pants. I know I have to break out of that habit soon or my son will start seeing them and he is at an age now where he is aware of what is going on around him. I don't want him thinking it's all normal and then refusing to get potty trained because mommy wears them. Since he isn't living with us anymore, I can start practicing. I also have baby items but I can pass that off as being my son's when anyone comes over.

I also have an adult book and I think it's about BDSM and I found it at my old work and it was being thrown away so I took it. I never even read it yet. I have always kept it on my bookshelf. I actually forgot I even had it until I was looking at what books I had to get rid of and I found it.

I often put my most loved objects under the bed or in drawers if I'm going out, or to sleep or if someone else is coming into the house. I worry that something will happen to them otherwise. Sometimes at night I have to get up and check on my favourite objects to make sure they are OK. Deep down I know that this is a little ridiculous, but I feel anxious if I don't.

When I know my future mother in law is coming to visit I hide all my books relating to Aspergers, my fluffy toys and any books that might be considered a little unusual. I need to keep up the pretence of normal until after the wedding!

I used to hide my favorite objects, like when my dad or stepmother would come into my room unannounced - like, it would be something I was reading or looking at online, something related to my interests...I think that would give my stepmother the idea that I was hiding something, which I was, not out of guilt, but from trying to escape ridicule...there have been times when I've been ridiculed or made fun of for my interests (stuffed animals, kiddie shows, My Little Ponies), and if I was looking at something related to my interests, I would hide it....my stepmother still acts suspicious when she thinks I'm hiding something, and she just needs to get over it at this point - I never did anything wrong. My only crime was liking things considered "age - inappropriate" for someone like me.

Sometimes if I'm looking at stuff related to my special interests on my laptop, and either one of my parents comes in, I'll tab over to something neutral (like my Flickr account) in another browser window...and I've learned to do this so fluidly that no one thinks I'm hiding anything now.

In regards to the actual stuffed animals, My Little Ponies, and now a huge collection of die cast Cars characters, I just brought them all to the dorms with me when I started college, and I pretty much just let it all hang out....especially after my roommate moved out after the first semester this past year. I lined up all my die cast Cars on the spare desk, put my favorite plushies on my bed and the spare one too, put all my little plastic toys and My Little Ponies (G1 and G4) on the shelves, set my Lightning McQueen blanket on my bed, and I even bought some Cars 2 wall stickers and stuck those all over the room, too. I put the stickers of Grem and Acer (the scowling lemon cars) on my door to warn everyone that outsiders weren't welcome unless given permission to enter.

I used to do that.

Come to think of it, the only reason I stopped may be because my prized items are either already tucked away, or too big to hide.

There is no point for me to hide my stuff.

Not so much anymore. I am not really all that embarrassed by anything unusual that I own and have healthy enough self esteem at this point in my life that I don't mind questions. In a way I actually welcome them. For example, a friend of mine was over the other day and noticed my seemingly excessive number (3) of survey meters and geiger counters. I took the opportunity to explain that only one of them works and the rest I am planning to fix...someday. The history of American civil defense during the cold war is one of my interests that I research/obsess over from time to time and I like having these artifacts as a way to connect me to the history and culture of the time. Plus, they do serve a practical purpose in case of a highly unlikely nuclear event. I also like to take my geiger counter to places known for toxic waste dumping to see if it reads anything. It's harmless, geeky, and one of the things that makes me, me. Now if it was someone I didn't personally know, I would probably hide things like that because they might get the wrong idea and report me to the authorities. I don't need that kind of trouble in my life!