Packing up family home after divorce

[HeliosPurple]

I’m currently trying to pack up our family home of 20 years after divorce as we have sold the house. There is cupboard after cupboard of memories and I’m finding it really tough. Anybody got any tips for how to make it better or is it just going to be bloody hard?

I've done this after a break up... I think you throw it out but keep it in the bin bag for a week. If you miss it you can get it, but realistically if it doesn't bother you, you likely will be fine without ❤️

This must be tough OP.
There ARE moving companies that can do it for you if you give them guidance.
I think generally speaking it's better to set aside a few days and just crack on. Remember they are just 'things', no more than plastic and paper, and be ruthless where you need to be.
Do you have friends/family that can help?

Thanks both. I think it’s just all the memories, particularly of when my children were young and we were all still together. There’s always the thought that you’ve let them down or that things could have been done differently or worked out differently. We’ve all moved on and it’s not a recent split but it’s still so hard as everything seems to trigger a memory. I think it’s the extreme nostalgia that’s getting me. What a rotten process.

Don’t take time over it - chuck it all in some boxes and don’t look at it until you feel ready. That might be next month, or next year, it might even be never. DON’T torture yourself with this. Just get the job done, and then go and get on with your life x

I think any house that you've lived in for 20 years and brought a family up in will have huge memories that make moving difficult. Focus on your new life, what this sale is going to lead to, where do you go next? This is just another hurdle to get through to your future.

Oh OP, this is something I have been facing too so I know how hard it is. I took it slowly and left a day or two between each really traumatic drawer or cupboard emptying. So many memories attached to really silly things like Christmas cracker toys and badges, ticket stubs and foreign coins from holidays, that were flung into the junk drawer years ago. They all went in a bin bag, together with cuddly toys, childrens clothes and school books and into the bin. They are gone now and they are not missed. The memories are still there though, and sometimes it hurts to recall them. Be strong, you can do this, it is only stuff after all.

@HeliosPurple I went through this - my tip is not to throw anything you are unsure about. We sold the FH at the same time as splitting up (after 20 years) and our teenagers and I went into a 4 bed house (with a loft - this was important!!) and ex went into a flat. We sorted through 'stuff' together and I kept all our wedding photos, kids photo albums, all the photos we'd taken over the years. He didn't want any - weird git! Over the next few years I gradually sorted them out in the loft in the new house and have kept a lot but thrown a lot. When I moved again 4 years later I got rid of even more. Be kid to yourself - I think women attach a lot more sentiment to 'stuff' that holds memories so don't throw them all away in one go especially if they were of happier times. Remembering the happier times doesn't mean you are living in the past