You have gone through all the preparation and hopefully used Senior Living Specialists to find the perfect new home for your loved one. While that was challenging, you still have a tough day ahead: moving day.
There are a lot of different scenarios that can make this day difficult. You might have two parents where only one now needs to move to an assisted living facility while the other does not. You might have only one loved one that is going into care, but they are attached to all the items in their current home. All these scenarios can make moving day difficult so we wanted to compile 5 tips to make moving day go as smoothly as possible.
#1. Put together a plan, don’t just wing it.
If you have ever moved yourself or your family, you know that it can be a very chaotic day. If you don’t plan ahead to make sure you coordinate everything you need, it can make the day more stressful than it needs to be. What can you pack ahead of time? Do you need moving boxes? What about a moving truck? Get all these details hammered out ahead of time.
#2. Get the help of family members if you have that option.
We understand that you might be the only one available to help with moving day. If that is the case, we recommend a moving company to help make the day more manageable. If you have several family members able to help your loved one move, make sure you select a day they can all join. This will make the workload easier but also prevent you from being the sole “bad guy” if your loved one is struggling with the move.
#3. Start small instead of trying to tackle the whole move at once.
Often, a loved one will have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, and it can make things very challenging for you come moving day. We recommend looking at things on a room-by-room basis to help you “check” things off the list. It will make the moving process have a step-by-step plan and much more achievable if you look at it from this perspective.
#4. Be respectful to your loved one.
As a caregiver, you can find yourself looking at things too administratively at times. This can happen on moving day as you are usually working on a time crunch with many stress factors at play. Don’t forget that on the day of the move, your loved one is watching their “life” be boxed up. It can be very emotional for them, and you need to keep reminding yourself of that and not just looking at it as a job that needs to get done. Stay positive and focus on the good (even if that is difficult).
#5. Help your loved one learn to let go.
This is a difficult task for anybody. Your loved one will struggle with downsizing and look at all the items as necessary to keep. Do your best to be understanding of their feelings while also helping them narrow down the number of things they need to keep.
Follow these tips and it should make moving day much less stressful for your loved one.
