Don’t wait until the weekend before the move! Follow these 6 tips for a smooth transition:
- Set aside a weekend: Moving takes time. Set aside a weekend to do it right.
- Get the family involved: Get as many family members as possible to help with the move. Aside from helping the move go more quickly, it’ll help remind your Mom that she has a support system.
- Identify the true junk: Walk with your Mom through her house or apartment identifying items that all agree can be donated, recycled, or trashed. Remember: just because Mom owns it, doesn’t mean she has to move it!
- Set aside items moving with the senior: Identify what will be moved to the new senior living apartment. Make sure you are mindful of the senior living apartment’s floor plan and size constraints so that you do not attempt to bring more than will fit.
- Identify remaining items with sentimental value: After removing all known junk and all items that will be moving with the senior, you are left with items whose futures are up in the air. The most important of the remaining items are things with sentimental value. As a family, discuss the future of these items, attempting to honor your older loved ones wishes as much as possible. Find safe places for these items, ideally with family members who will appreciate them, so that your loved one is confident these items are being respected and treasured. Let your loved one know that she can have the items back anytime if she is to leave senior living, but in the meantime they will be kept safe.
- Take care of the rest: With obvious junk gone, items being moved gone, and objects with sentimental value gone, you should be left with objects with some value or use but that do not have sentimental value. These items could be sold to help fund the move, or donated to a good cause.
Moving is never easy, at any age, but I hope these tips will help you organize your Mom’s move to senior living and take a little pain out of the process. Ma
king the Move to Senior Living Easy for Mom
Author: Jeff Anderson