Parental guidance on helping your parents downsize

by Carmen Scott

Category: Senior & Zoomers

There are many reasons for down sizing, but the top 3 are... Housing requirements change, care requirements change or financial requirements change. The physical move - Make your parents a part of the decision making process. They are not children. Be aware that deciding which possessions to discard or give away can be as emotional as leaving the home.

So here are a few helpful tips: Plan, plan, plan, and start several months before the actual move. Work at a Steady Pace - Set up weekly goals of going through one room, or space a week.

A good way to ease into the move is to start in a room with a low emotional association. Sort the items in each room as follows: keep, donate, toss, gift to family and friend, sell (craigslist, auction).

Do your homework - hiring a moving company that is experienced in working with older individuals. Make sure you measure the size of the new place to figure out what will and will not fit in.

Have several days of dinner prepared for your parents as this process can be very tiring and you want them to stay healthy.

Make lists to help organize what needs to be done, such as address changes, Banking, Insurance, CPP, phone, hydro, newspaper etc. Allow plenty of flexibility and time (however long you think it will take double it)

Plan to spend one or two hours at a time working through the sorting process. This is not a task that you can do for long periods of time at any age, and allow time for recalling memories, and to share stories with friends and family.

If you aren't up to the task there are many companies that you can hire who specialize with this process.

Our resource pick this week: A wonderful informative book "To Move or Not to Move" by the folks at Senior Living Magazine.