Preparing For Your Child’s Transition to College

One of the most proud – and difficult – times of a parent's life is the moment when their children move away for college. It’s something that you probably had 18 or more years to prepare for, yet when moving days arrives, you’re still not as prepared as you want to be. There’s just something about seeing a child move out of the house that shakes even the most stoic of parents. In all of the emotions that surround the transition to college, you also have to think about the logistics of the move. Obviously your child can’t fit everything he or she owns in a dorm room. But, you probably want to make some kind of use of the additional space you’ll have once your child moves away. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with transforming your child’s room to a more useful space after he or she makes the move to college.

Thoroughly Clean the Room

Over the course of a childhood, your child has likely racked up quite a collection of items. This includes clothes, memorabilia, awards, and past school assignments, among others. The first step to preparing for the move to college is to go through everything your child owns. It may seem like a tedious task, but it is well worth the effort. As you’re going through your child’s belongings you’ll most likely stumble across things you want to get rid of, which will ultimately leave you with more space in your house.

An ap like Asset Panda for iPhone can help you organize. It is an inventory tracking app that you can use to notate everything your child owns. You can use the inventory tracking software to keep you and your child abreast of his or her belongings. Over the years, favorite things get lost behind piles of clothes and books, so the organization process can be a time for you and your child to reconnect and reminisce about the past before he or she makes the leap to college.

Organizing the Inventory List

An effective way to organize your inventory list is to separate what your child takes to college and what he or she decides to leave at home. Just because your child doesn’t take something to college, doesn’t mean you can automatically throw it away. Make sure you discuss with your child what he or she wants to do with the items that aren’t going to be making the move to college. If you organize and store the items that are staying in your home, you can still reap the benefit of gaining some additional space when your child moves. If it’s boxed away, that means it’s not in the room you were hoping to convert to an office for yourself

Beyond freeing up space, inventorying your child’s belongings can also save you some money on the expenses associated with moving to college. Your child probably wants to buy some new items to create a new and different space in college, but you don’t have to purchase new items if there is no need for them. You can look back at your inventory lists in the inventory tracking software to make a determination of what additional items you need to purchase when your child moves to college. There’s no reason to purchase a rug, microwave, or coffee pot if your child already has one at home. Instead of buying duplicates you can spend money on items your child actually needs or to purchase a special gift to commemorate your child’s big accomplishment in making transition to college