How to Keep What Matters Most to Your Senior Loved Ones

As more gifts come this holiday season to modernize and spruce up your senior’s wardrobe, life and home, you might want to look toward the New Year to start cleaning out some of the old. Sometimes seniors are so fed up with all of the clutter, or even the sad memories attached to items, that they just want to get rid of it all. In the process, they discard valuable things either sentimentally or monetarily. Other times, they don’t want to part with anything and attach meaning to everything. It is never a good idea to force your senior loved one to eliminate things that mean something to them. However, here are some tips for keeping what is important to them.

Set Aside Some Time

While it’s easy to ask mom where she got certain items or the importance of that pink vase when you pop over briefly for a visit, spending time delving into the home's history takes more time. Set aside a specific day or days to go through things with your senior loved ones. Look how their face lights up when they talk about the history of some items or how others they brush over, saying they picked them up at a yard sale for a quarter. To help clean out the home, or at least minimize things, it is important to know the history and the meaning they hold for your senior loved ones. As you’re going through everything, make sure to take notes and write down specifics. You can even grab one of those old notebooks your senior loved one saved in a drawer to record everything. Or, if you want to be technical about it, write it down in your notes app or even record your loved one telling stories about the items.

Don’t Judge

As you see what is really important to your senior loved ones, remember not to judge. Even if you think that gold teapot is hideous, it might hold sentimental value to your senior loved one. Don’t criticize their choices or what they value, and do not force them to get rid of things. However, there's nothing to say you can’t laugh together over some of the more gaudy things in the home or that pig pitcher your Aunt Mary gave your dad just because he happened to like pigs. However, remember to be mindful of your reactions.

Start Sorting

If you are serious about getting rid of things, sorting them into piles is a great way to start. The things your senior loved one is keeping can obviously be kept in place. If there are things they are ready to get rid of, you can put them into a pile and ask any family members if they want first dibs on the items. Make a donation pile. If mom got new sweaters for Christmas and is ready to clean out her wardrobe, take the chance to pass them on to someone else through a donation. You might also want to choose things to see if your senior loved one is finished with them. You can try a local consignment shop, such as Peace of Paradise in Punta Gorda, or go the modern way and sell them through online garage sale sites, eBay or Etsy, which not only sells homemade items but now also is a hotspot for selling antiques. Finally, make a pile for the trash.

Call Dibs

As your loved one goes through their items and tells stories about them, it might strike a chord with different family members. Maybe you don’t care about the cuckoo clock from Switzerland, but your sister is old enough to remember your parents bringing it back from their first trip abroad. Even though mom still has it on the wall in her kitchen now, your sister might want to call dibs on it for the future. Sticky notes or small tape on the bottom of items is a great way to mark who will eventually get what. You can all write down what you want to save any issues later. Be sure to ask your senior loved one what they think or have in mind. They might want certain things to go to certain people.

We Can Help

At Visiting Angels, our professional and compassionate caregivers can help the seniors in your life focus on self-care and anything else they might need help with. If you are looking for help caring for your senior, Visiting Angels Punta Gorda is here to help. Our in-home caregivers provide various home care services, including helping seniors get ready each morning, helping them do the things they enjoy daily, and helping with specialty care, including fall prevention and dementia care.

Our professionally-trained caregivers serve clients in Punta Gorda, North Fort Myers, Boca Grande, Cape Coral, Sanibel, Captiva, Arcadia and surrounding areas. To use our services or to learn more, call us at 941-347-8288 or fill out an online form here.