Many people in college are going to find their empty-nest parents wanting to downsize their house. This is totally normal but is also an emotional struggle at times. This summer my family sold my childhood home and moved into an apartment. It was a much bigger physical and emotional process than I thought it would be. Here are some helpful tips I wish someone had told me when I was moving out of my childhood home.

1. Prepare yourself for stress

According to healthstatus.com, the top three most stressful life events are death of a loved one, divorce, and moving. When you’re moving, most of your time will be spent going through old childhood possessions, packing boxes, and going through your junk drawers you never bothered to clean. You'll realize that you have way more belongings then you ever knew. This is more stressful than it sounds on paper. Packing boxes is the most tedious job when moving, and doing that for an entire day will give you cabin fever, so it's very important that you get out of the house every now and then to give yourself a break. Put aside a little bit of ''me time." Whether it's going for a run, grabbing lunch with a friend, or watching a movie, having some time to relieve your stress will help you stay level headed and work more efficiently. I found that grabbing lunch with a friend was a great outlet. Lunch is nice because you'll have enough time to catch up with friends, but it's also brief enough that you will still have time to get back to working on your move afterward. Grabbing lunch with a friend also helped me bounce ideas off them about which items to bring with me to my new place and which ones to pitch; it's good to get an outsider's perspective on tough decisions. Getting outside and doing physical activity like running or biking also helps to relieve excess stress. Exercise benefits your health, improves your mood, and releases endorphins, which can help relieve stress. Taking your stress out on a physical activity is a great way to vent without talking your friend's ears off!

2. Be flexible

The motto I lived by when going through my move was "go with the flow." You only have so much control over things, so don't fight what you can't control. Go with the flow and things will fall into place. It's challenging to stay organized when in the middle of moving. Things are not going to go as planned, and you've got to learn to be flexible. Things get chaotic when there is still so much to do and not enough time. Family members may be scattered all over completing different tasks for the move, schedules won’t line up, eating on the go may become a pattern, and viewing new possible homes will become almost routine. Being flexible is key to staying sane throughout this whole process. You'll be stretched pretty thin trying to get all your packing and moving done by the home closing date, so take any help you can get from friends or family who offer. Sitting down for family meals will usually be on the go. The biggest part of our home we had to pack up was our kitchen, so cooking for ourselves wasn't an option. Try to have fun with the on-the-go dinners and maybe even make it a thing to go out and try a new restaurants a few times during your move. Viewing prospective properties can be stressful and time consuming. Be flexible when viewing possible homes, don't stress out about all the little details, and try to enjoy seeing new places and keeping your options open. During the moving process, it's not the best idea to make permanent plans with events or friends – you'll feel guilty if you have to keep canceling or changing times. You need to manage your time the most effective way you can, so last-minute plans are the best way to go. You won't offend anyone and spontaneity can be fun! Go with the flow.

3. You can’t keep everything

If you were born and raised in your childhood home, then everything you've ever owned from age 0 till now is deep inside there. You own more than you know! When you’re going through all your childhood belongings, you’ll take a walk down memory lane. Some of these memories will make you happy, and other ones may make you wish you weren’t leaving. The thing to keep in mind is that these are all great memories and mementos, but you can’t physically keep all of them. A strategy that helped me was designating a box or two just for my childhood belonging that mean a lot to me and my parents. Maybe make one box of all belongings that you owned that you wish to keep like that one special toy, blanket, or a childhood garment that someone made. The other box could be all the adorable arts 'n' crafts that you made as a kid – parents love these things and they are almost as valuable as gold to them, so be nice when deciding which ones to keep and which to pitch. It’s not just childhood belongings that you have to downsize on, but also personal belongings in general. My rule of thumb is to pitch it if you haven’t used it within the past year. Now, when I say "pitch" that doesn't necessarily mean you have to throw it away, find ways to sell or donate clothes and items you no longer use. Used clothing stores, recycled furniture shops, used bookstores, and specialty collection galleries are great places to sell belongings. Donation facilities, Goodwill, or clothing drives are a nice way to give back to the community.

4. Look forward to the future

After all the boxing up, packing, cleaning, and selling/donating personal belongings is done and over with, you might feel upset. Seeing your home with everything removed from it, completely empty, can be a shocking experience. It may not look or feel like your home anymore when everything is gone. While this can be upsetting, think about how you are moving into a new chapter of your life. Your memories from your childhood home are still yours; you’re just growing up. Change isn't necessarily a bad thing; change is what makes us the people we are today. You're going to live in a lot of different places in your lifetime, they may all be different, and you'll make memories in each place. You will have a fresh start in your new home and that's exciting! Think of all the fun new experiences that are coming your way: a new bedroom design, new location, and new neighbors and friends to make! You will create new memories and experiences in your new place and soon enough calling it "home" won't feel so strange.

5. Most Importantly ...

The most important thing I have learned through the entire moving process it that the belongings you have, the size of your home, and the location aren’t what makes it feel like home. A place will not feel like home unless you are sharing it with the right people. Home is about being with the people who love and support you, who make you smile and you enjoy spending time with. Leaving your childhood home behind might be sad, but the most important thing is coming with you: your family.