It’s great, right? You helped your kid however you could through their college journey, and now they have graduated! While there are a lot of proud moments there, you (and your kid) get pulled back into reality when it’s time for them to move out of their apartment, dorm, student house, or wherever they’re living. But at the same time, there’s a very specific type of confidence that comes from a college student saying, “Yeah, it’s basically packed.” It sounds reassuring for about five seconds, until a parent shows up and, well, it’s not packed at all, or barely actually packed here.
But generally speaking here, though, move-out is one of those things that sounds simple when it’s still a week away. Then the day gets closer, and they didn’t pack as much as they should, or they didn’t clean the area as much as they should, or they didn’t remove things as they should. Basically, there were things they should have done but didn’t do.
And yeah, it’s easy for parents to get irritated. No, really, fair enough. But you should really keep in mind here that there’s usually a lot happening at once. Like yout kid (and others) are dealing with finals, graduation, roommate plans, job stress, summer plans, rental rules, deposits, emotions, not really seeing friends anymore after this, and all of it gets dumped into one sweaty day of carrying boxes. It’s a lot; maybe you dealt with the same when you were their age. But there’s still some things that you, the parent, and your kid should keep in mind here.
You Should Ask What “Packed” Actually Means
Well, packed” is one of those words that needs a follow-up question. Some students mean the boxes are done, labelled, and sitting by the door. Others mean they’ve put three hoodies in a bag and made a mental note to do the rest at some point before the universe ends.
Everyone is different here. So before anyone drives across town or books time off work, it helps to ask what has actually been done. Are the clothes in bags? Is the bedding coming home? Has the kitchen stuff been sorted? Are there things being donated? Is the desk being kept or abandoned? Has the student checked the building rules for move-out?
It doesn’t need to turn into a lecture (at least, hopefully not), because nobody wants to start the day with tension already in the air. But the more specific the questions are, the fewer surprises there are later. A parent asking, “Is the room packed?” is going to get a much less useful answer than, “What still needs to leave the room?” Well, hopefully that’ll be the case here.
Each Type of Housing All Have Different Problems
So, there are different types of student housing like a dorm, one of those Greek houses, an apartment, a student house- you get the idea here. Be it on or even off campus, there will be some challenges, most likely. When it comes to being on campus, most (not all), but most universities will have a “dumping ground” around a dumpster or even the lobby of a dorm.
A lot of students will toss out working microwaves, furniture, refrigerators, and other things solely because they don’t want to pack them. So that could be an option (granted, it might not be eco-friendly and could be a waste of money. But for other housing situations, it might not be as straightforward as this.
So, for bigger items they’re not going to keep (and what’s not going to fit in your car), then you might need to see what sort of disposal options there are. Like, is there a dumpster or a recycling facility that things can be brought to? Does the housing itself offer something? You could look into junk removal for bigger things like mattress disposal, especially if your kid has a spring mattress, so they’re not the easiest to fit into a car, let alone dispose of.
Do they have Anything Shared?
And why is this being brought up here? Well, roommates make move-out more complicated, even when everyone likes each other. Someone bought the toaster, someone else bought the lamp, the rug belonged to a friend from last year, and the couch apparently has no known owner anymore. Sure, it’s all very convenient.
But this is why shared items should be talked about before parents arrive. But most students tend not to do that, or theres a bunch of assumptions that float around instead. So, if you haven’t already, bring it up with your kid prior to move-out day. So, who is taking the dishes? Who is dealing with the table? Is the mini fridge being sold, donated, or dragged home? Is anything in the common area actually the student’s responsibility, or did a roommate leave it behind and vanish into summer? You don’t want to get dragged into this the day of, hence why you should bring it up in advance.
Yes, Cleaning is Going to Take Longer than Claimed
If a student says the place only needs a quick clean, that probably means they havent looked closely at the bathroom, fridge, oven, baseboards, or whatever is happening behind the bed. Plus, as you might already know here, college housing has a way of hiding mess until furniture starts moving. With dorms at least, they won’t let a student check out until the Redisences Assistant approves everything on their checklist. Meaning both of you are stuck there until it’s actually clean.
For everywhere else, well, if they had a deposit, and they want it back than they need to do an actual good job of cleaning and making the room, space, whatever it is barebones enough so they can get their money back. Besides, no one wants to lose part of a deposit because everyone gave up at the end and decided crumbs were “probably fine.” They’re usually the furthest thing from being fine.
