The Moving Planner Blog

It is often said that moving home can be one of the most stressful things a person goes through in their life. This maxim can be doubly true when it comes to moving seniors from their home. No matter whether they are moving because of a death of a partner, because they are too old to cope and the house has gotten too big or difficult for them to manage or if they are heading to a retirement home; if they have lived in that house for a long time and have many years of memories there, then the whole moving experience can be especially difficult for them. So the main thing to bear in mind when moving seniors is to make the whole experience as painless as possible, and to be as aware as possible of what the experience might be like for them. To do this, you should follow the following five golden rules:

(1) At All Times be Kind – This should go without saying really but it might be that you have a parent or relative who is old, grumpy, cantankerous and on the whole not very nice to you during the whole moving process. No matter. Put yourself in their shoes, bite your tongue and be as nice as possible. If they make mistakes in their packing or do things in a frustrating way, ignore it, or correct it when they are not looking.

(2) Plan Ahead and Start Packing Early – Allow plenty of time for the move so that they are not feeling rushed, or pushed into the whole process. Take some time to chat with them about the move. Remember that going through years of stuff (and memories) will be emotionally draining. Give them time to get used to the idea. In addition, gently persuade them to de-clutter a little. Get them to use the move as a way of throwing out stuff that might have accumulated over the years but might not be worth keeping.

(3) Small Steps – Firstly, get them to do a small area of packing, nothing massive or overwhelming. This might be a box from the attic to go through or the drawer of a desk. To make it easier still, get them to begin in a room that has the least sentimental attachment. This could be a guest bedroom or a laundry room or something similar.

(4) Take Pictures of Their Home – One way of making the move to the new place as easy as possible is to make it as similar as possible to the old place, on the inside at least. Using pictures of their old home you can place objects in very similar ways and in the correct rooms. This can be everything from getting the bedroom furniture laid out in exactly the right way to placing family pictures together in a certain room.

(5) At All Times Be Patient – Allow them enough time to say goodbye to their old home. If they seem to be taking a long time over a particular area or flicking through old photos, leave them be. This is important to them and an important part of the moving process.

Any tips you’d like to share?