Moving tips - moving with kids


Moving sucks.
sorting, packing, lifting, Realtor fees, relocating.
None of the above appeals to me.
What sucks even more than moving?
Moving with kids.
Our oldest daughter is 5 years old and in her 5 years of life she has moved with us a total of 6 times.
This past year alone we have moved as a family of five 3 times.
After a long wait we are in the home that we plan on being in for at least the next 5 -10 years.
Moving is hard on adults so naturally it is even harder on kids.
I have had a lot of people asking how we moved and settled so fast with three little ones so I thought Id share a few tips on moving with kids.


1
Involve your kids 
I cant speak for every ones kids but our kids don't cope well with change.
Change is especially  difficult for our oldest daughter who likes to feel in control.
{not like her mother at all....}
To make things easier on our kids we would drive by our house every week to see how our house was coming along. I remember driving the kids by the day that they had just started breaking ground and explaining to them that in a year our new house would be where this dirt was. They were so excited and they loved seeing our house turn into a home each week we would drive by.
If you aren't buying a brand new home you can still involve your kids by showing MLS listings or driving by the already built house.


2
Purge Purge Purge
 I actually really enjoy purging and a new house is like a blank canvas, an opportunity to start fresh.
Don't bring the junk with you! Take only what you love.
There is something so liberating about getting rid of crap you don't use or need!
We got the kids involved in this as well and explained to them that there are many people in need that we could donate our stuff to and make really happy.
The kids loved putting bags of their clothes, toys and books for kids in need.
Our oldest daughter actually came up to me about a week after we purged nearly 20 large garbage bags to GoodWill and said
"Mommy, I am so happy we got rid of all our stuff. We had way too much stuff!"
Not only does purging make less for you to physically move but I have found since our purging that our kids play more and fight less with less stuff around. 

3
Get the kids excited about their new rooms
One of the first things that our kids asked when we told them we were moving was
"What about my room? What will it look like?"
Talk about their new room with them and get them excited!
What colour do they want it to be? Do they have ideas for a theme?

4
Organized Packing
The key to settling in your new place faster is to be organized.
Pack your moving boxes by room and make sure you label!
I found it was really helpful to make a list of what was in each box and I would label with a number so I could get to what I needed quickly.
For example I would label the box Living Room 1
Then write a list like this:
Living Room 1
books
cds
etc.


4
Plan for Help
We are fortunate enough that we have amazing family who was willing to help out with the kids while we did most of the moving and unpacking.
This made our move so much easier because we were able to work 12 straight hours moving and unpacking and had everything pretty much unpacked and in place the first day we had the house.
If you don't have anyone to watch the kids have a plan to keep kids occupied.
Coloring sheets, rainbowloom and Ipads are all great but in the chaos of the move the kids will be more interested in "helping" move than playing.
Have a couple of boxes ready for their rooms that they can help unpack too.

5
Have FunMoving is stressful and exhausting.
At the end of a long day of moving put some pillows and blankets on the floor, order some pizza, pop in a movie and break in the new house pizza party style :)
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