Moving house is stressful at the best of times, but it’s even harder when you have children to worry about. Here are a few tips to help make the go as smoothly as possible, and to reduce the hassle factor for both you and your kids.
Deciding to Move
If you’re lucky enough to have the luxury of picking your moving date, try to wait until your child doesn’t have a lot of other things going on in their life. It’s not easy to move house when your child is being potty trained, and an older child would not be happy about moving during the middle of a school term.
Of course, real life doesn’t always work out that way. If you have to move on short notice, do your best to explain the reason behind the move, and take your child’s concerns seriously. Don’t dismiss your child’s feelings; even if you can’t change whatever it is they are unhappy about, you should acknowledge their worries and talk the issue through with them.
Before the move
- Explain to your children exactly what is going to happen. Don’t just say you are “moving”, explain about packing, living in a new house, and any changes that will involve-such as a new school if you’re moving to a different area. Consider reading some age-appropriate books that will help them to work through any concerns they might have.
- Let your kids get involved-even young children can help by sorting through their toys and wrapping items in bubble wrap.
- If you need to put some things into storage, let your children pick out a couple of items that they want to keep, so that they don’t get distressed about being separated from their personal possessions.
- Label every box as clearly as possible-this is especially important for boxes containing your child’s toys and clothes. You don’t want to have to spend hours hunting through unmarked boxes to find your child’s lucky t-shirt.
The morning of the move
- Leave one small box of lightweight toys such as crayons, a jigsaw puzzle or a little tub of lego that your child can play with up until immediately before the move.
- If at all possible, arrange for a babysitter to look after your child for a few hours so that you have time to move the boxes into your new home. A trip to the beach, or an hour at the swimming pool followed by a trip to their favourite restaurant will give an older child the chance to burn off some energy so that they’re better behaved when they get home.
Once you get there
- Don’t be in too much of a rush to unpack. Pick a few key items that you need to stick to your usual routines, and unpack those first. Next, focus on things that make your new place feel like home. If you aren’t planning on extensive redecorating, put up some posters in your child’s room, and let them fill their toy-box so that they settle in quickly.
- The day after the move, take some time out to do something exciting, especially if you’re in a new city. Explore some major landmarks, go for a picnic, or take a daytrip to a popular attraction in the area. Give your child something to be excited about.
Moving is never easy, but if you are positive about it, then your child will be positive about it too.
Written by Gozde for Bingham Self Storage
