Get Rid of Grown Up Kids' Belongings

Often, when a child grows up and moves out to go to college, get married, or simply move on with their life, they tend to leave things behind. In fact, I remember when I moved out of my parents' home, it was roughly five years before I removed the last of my belongings from their home. In all actuality, I was pretty lucky. My parents were totally within their rights to just throw out all of my junk, but they decided not to, and allowed me to keep my stuff there. They were even nice enough to not charge me rent for the storage of these possessions.

Not everyone is as understanding as my parents, nor should they. Now that I look back, I realize that I was in reality taking advantage of the good will that my parents were showing me. In order to prevent this from happening to other the parents of other people, and to help those children who have grown up to the point of moving out from taking advantage of their parents, here are some ideas on how you can get rid of grown up kids belongings in a more organized manner.

Remember, these are just a few suggestions and strategies that you can utilize. Before implementing any of these though, I would suggest in the strongest possible sense talking over any possible options prior to actually implementing them. While this process may raise some hard feelings between children and their parents, being able to talk like this prior to implementation can and will help reduce any possible tensions that might arise.

• Where to start. As a parent, decide now where to start your efforts. To begin, choose which items of your children's that you might like to hold onto as a memento. Talk over what items are to remain and which are to go with your children.
• Set a deadline. Discuss with your children what would be a reasonable time limit to remove all of the items they would like to keep. Ensure that it is clearly known what the consequences are of leaving any items in the home after that deadline passes. Just be sure that you are ready to follow through on the deadline.
• Donate items. Anything that is left behind after the deadline has passed you should get rid of. These items should basically be given to either a charity of your choosing or to any friends that might have a use for those items. Make sure, though, that you know what the donation guidelines are so that there can be a smooth transition of the possessions.