What do you do with their belongings?

[Kootiebear]

My daughter doesn't leave for Bootcamp until August of 2015, but we have started having discussions about what to do about my daughter's belongings once she leaves for Bootcamp.  My husband and I agreed we would wait until after the first of the year as time gets closer to ask our daughter to decide what she wants to do with her belongings.   She mentioned she would rent storage space and we told her she doesn't need to do that.  We are more than willing to store her stuff we just ask that she start to go through it and decide what she wants to keep and what she wants to throw away or give away.  Since she will be leaving and starting her adult life we cant leave the room as is.  I go through ups and downs on my emotions about this.  I know the next year will be a happy/sad time for all of us.

[Alena01]

This is EXACTLY what I hoped to find when I signed up for this site. Thanks for posting. Mine leaves in 3 weeks. I wondered, at what point will they have a living space to hold all the junk they left at home?

[portside]

Alena, probably about the time they are 30! That's what my other 3 sons did. :) 

Good luck - Tonypete

[mommat]

Let me be the first to admit I am a big chicken!  I tried going into his room with him about 4 times before he left and separate thing  and give things away and do everything that I know I should have done...but I just couldn't do it.  So he left his room just like any other day with laundry on the floor and shoes all over, his bed unmade and controllers all over the room.  We decided that there was absolutely no rush to storing anything since he is my baby and we don't have plans for his room.  We also thought he would have a better idea of what he wanted in A school after he had been there a while and since he will be coming home for Christmas we will go through his room then.  I suppose there is really no right or wrong answer you just have to do what works for your family and circumstances.  Welcome to the journey.

[Rero]

My son began by purchasing a tote bag and he instructed us to bring it to PIR(boot camp grad). It has his comfy hotel clothes, iphone, headphones, etc. Then I told my son to go through his room and remove or box up anything he does not want me to be shocked to find later.he basically cleaned his room, purged clothes, and locked up his keepsakes in a box. I have started a box for items I will likely mail to him at his A school. His best friend knows the phone password(darnit...I can't snoop) if there was a reason to need it. You will want their room a bit the same for the first couple weeks. It's a great place to cry and write letters. I wear my son's robe. Two weeks to go and my grief has now turned into pride.

[AbsMom]

Our son left 2 years ago and all his stuff is still in his room, looks like he lives there. However, he will be home soon, getting married, and he has to clean it all out. We told him that we will ship to his next PDS all the stuff he wants and that we will store the things he wants to keep, within reason. Our daughter leaves in a few days and she is purging all her old clothes, school papers, etc. However, I am planning on keeping her room just as until she is ready to "move out", just like we did with her brother. And, we still refer to his room as "his room", not sure that will ever change as long as we are in the house they grew up in.
Best wishes to you though. Such an emotional event, no matter when you decide is the best time for you and your family. You do what works for you. <3

 

[BunkerQB]

Since your daughter is not leaving until August of 2015, I recommend holding off further discussion on disposal of her belongings until next year - about 90 days prior to leaving.

Enjoy your time with her NOW. It goes by so fast and you can't get it back.

[Austin's mom]

My son has been at GL for 4 weeks now. Before he left I went thru his room with him and put things in totes he wants to keep and put them in the attic. He packed some clothes for us to bring up to graduation as his A school will be at GL also.

[Mi3girlz]

I actually just did this with my Daughter who leaves for bootcamp in January. She went through all of her things and decided what she wanted for us to keep for her. I asked her to leave pictures in her room so it didn't feel so empty. It really was very difficult for me but she is so strong which helped. Our children's futures are bright and they will always know that there's a room for them at home! Good luck Navy Moms and God bless!

[HuskyMom]

Our older son "packed" his boxes because we had just moved from one house to another, smaller house. He knew if he took the big room his things would be moved for his younger brother to move into the big room once he was gone. He didn't do such a great job. After he went to A School, I sent him pictures of clothes & he told me what he wanted shipped to him. He had to pay for it, so that he would choose carefully. For about 10 months he didn't want us to get rid of anything, but in May he told us he realized he'll never take his bicycles with him, so to go ahead & sell them. He'll be coming home for a month early next year. I'll have him go thru boxes then. He'll have a different perspective then on what he needs/wants to keep. 

Now a year later and a little wiser, my younger son is leaving for BC on Tuesday. He has gone thru his things &put things to be sold in one box, things to donate in another & threw quite a bit away. I know he'll end up getting rid of more things on future visits home. We had more time for him to go thru things than we did with his brother.

Their room will become my office/guest room. We have a twin size bed & 2 fold-away beds. So we'll have room for 3 in the guest room & a full size pull out bed in the living room. They know they are always welcome home. I plan to decorate the guest room as I see fit for my every day needs, but I will incorporate some of their favorite things into the decor for when they come home for visits. My younger son was upset at 1st, but like I explained to him, we may get visits from them for about 1% of the year, but I need to use it for my office the other 99% of the year. That put it in perspective for him & he is very supportive of that decision now.

[FlowerPowerNavyMom]

I cleaned out my son's room abt a week after he left, August 4 this year. I kept his "keepsake" stuff like knickknacks and personal stuff and boxed it. But I gave away 95% of his clothes.

[Hello2u]

It sux when they move out. It's like you want to say nooooo don't leave. But you can't it's their god giving nature. So now I understand why my friends load up on pets. Lo lol

[Aircrew Mom]

When my son left for boot camp he had 3 days notice.  He got bumped up.  So, yes his room still looks the same after a couple years.  he put things that were very important to him in bins, but everything else is the same.  When he came home after 10 months for Christmas he was very happy to be in is own room with all his stuff.  They all get very home sick in boot camp.  At least mine did.