Ideas to Make Memories of Home Before Moving

You could do a time capsule, but you'd have to figure out where to bury it - if it's on the property of the old house, you'll have to be sure that the new people will let you come back in a year or 5 to dig it up.

You could have each person write up a favorite memory, complete with sketches or photos, and you could create a "house scrapbook" with those things.

You could also have a farewell dinner - maybe a picnic on the family room floor or someplace else where you all spent a lot of time (deck, basement play area, whatever). Have everyone share the memories they've written down. If anyone's really creative, you could create a poem or a song parody (re-write a famous song - "My Favorite Things" is a tune everyone knows and it lends itself to a list). Take photos of this picnic and make it the last page of the house scrapbook. Toast the old house and the memories with champagne (sparkling cider for the kids) - just as you say goodbye to the "old year" you can say goodbye to the old house, combining fond memories and a few tears with the excitement of the new space.

Since you are staying nearby, your current neighbors may not throw you a farewell party but you can certainly invite them to this picnic or pot luck.

You could leave a little note for the new buyers about how great this house and neighborhood have been for you - either give it to their realtor, or invite them to this get-together, or even tape it to the mirror in the main bathroom or to the front of the stove - some place that won't be in their way when they move in, but where they will see it.

I like the way you're thinking already. Find your house pictures (and take some more) and put them into an album. Ask each of your children what they like best about the house, what was a nice thing that happened in it, what was a funny thing that happened in it, what they would like the new family to know. Print each of these "interviews" and put them in the album. You and your husband could do this, too. Can you take a plant along with you to plant in your new yard? (You'll want to plant a replacement in your old yard, of course.)

I like the idea of a portrait of the old one, with keys in a shadowbox near to where you keep your keys in the new home whether that is a shelf with hooks, a key bowl, or a more formal foyer.

Best,
F. B.

A family photo in the favorite gathering space. My older daughter and I used to hang out at the top of the steps and chat.