Moving can be stressful enough for anyone, but moving with kids that just adds to the anxiety level. Thankfully, I am here to share some tips and tricks that we used when we recently moved with 2 kids! Yes I said it, we moved with two kids! Our daughter, Lily was 2 years old and our son Mason was not even a month old when we moved! Thanks to a lot of help from our friends and family we survived but we wanted to share some helpful tips and tricks to make your experience as smooth as possible.
Let’s start with packing! You can’t move into a new home without packing up your belongings. Probably the hardest part about selling our old home was keeping it clean for showings with 2 kids. We tried our best to tidy up after every meal, not let dishes linger and pick up all Lily’s toys at the end of the night so that we weren’t rushing for showings. Try to make cleaning up fun and include your kids! That way it is less work for you. I know easier said than done but by singing a clean up song or even rewarding the kids for helping sometimes it can make the world of difference. Another thing my wife found helpful was having the kids backpacks backed and ready to go at the door. A lot of times showings can happen quite quickly which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get out of the house. By having your kid’s bags backed you have one less thing to worry about.
For packing the biggest thing that helped us was letting Lily help us pack! She had so much fun throwing things in the boxes and helping us move the boxes around the house. Giving your child a job that is appropriate for them helps them be involved in the process and creates less anxiety for them to with all the changes that are happening. We also let Lily colour on the boxes after they were packed which helped prevent her from unpacking them. If you have a newborn like we did, baby wearing was key and taking advantage of nap times to get a lot done. When in doubt, throw on some Netflix when you need the added distraction. We weren’t able to do this with our kids as we didn’t find out about it until afterwards but there is a book by Robert Munsch called “Moving Day” that would be great to help children with transitioning to a new home.
When it came time to moving, we had Lily stay with our in laws. It was much easier to get things done without her running around. It also helped keep things normal for her so she wasn’t upset or confused by the change. We set up Mason’s swing close by and thankfully he slept most of the move. Try to think of unpacking as an opportunity to declutter and purge! We donated about 5-6 boxes of clothes alone to charity and purged a lot of household stuff that we did not need anymore. It felt so good to get rid of stuff and give to those in need. Another thing that was helpful was focusing on one room at a time when unpacking. We labelled all of our boxes and when we moved them into the home we placed them in the designated room. Then when we unpacked we focused on one room at a time so it was not overwhelming and we got more done. It was also helpful to label the boxes so that the people helping us move in knew where everything went without having to ask us. It made it more efficient. Another trip for making the move seamless for your kids is trying to keep things familiar in the new home from the old home. For example, we let Lily pick which room she wanted and I made sure that all of her cups, bowls etc. were in a special drawer just for her like at our old house.
Most importantly, at the end of the day stop what you are doing and take some time for family! Within all the chaos you will probably yell at your spouse, roll your eyes and get frustrated with your children so be sure at the end of the night to sit down together and have some family time. Take breaks and be silly! It is refreshing and will keep you motivated. At the end of the night we would all sit down and watch a movie together. We didn't have internet or cable for 2 weeks so we went old school and watched some DVD's. It was fun! Try to make a sticky situation into something fun and exciting. Every moment is a new adventure that you and your family are on together and in the end it is so worth it!
Here are some tips about what I learned from moving:
- Accept help when offered!! I am probably the last person to ask or accept help. But honestly you have to!
- Be patient - everything will not get done in 1 day and in the order you want. I found it helpful to focus on one room at a time. You can easily get sidetracked by all there is to do. I found by focusing on one room I got more accomplished.
- Prepare activities for the kids. If you are moving with a toddler prepare a few activities that require little help and are mess free so they are occupied while you unpack. For example some stickers and a piece of paper, colouring, memory match games.
- When we were packing up our old house we let lily draw on all the boxes to help prevent her from unpacking them.
- Hit up the grocery story and get some quick and easy meals and snacks. That way you aren't spending
- Download their favourite Netflix shows to your phone/iPad. I didn't do this and we didn't have WiFi setup at the house for over a week. We went old school and watched DVDs but boy did the same 5 paw patrol episodes get annoying!
- Give your kids jobs. Carrying small boxes, unpacking clothes etc. Lily liked helping build Mason's crib and put things back together.
- Try to make things familiar in new house so kids aren't disrupted by the move. Put their toys in familiar areas as the other house, if they had a special drawer in the kitchen at the old house designated a special spot in the new kitchen.
- I found it helpful using my @tayneandashley address stamp to make sure everyone knew our new mailing address. This way I didn't have to write it out a bunch of times & it was a fun way to tell everyone!!
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