Surviving 'Moving Day'

My husband and I have been married 6 years, and I’ve realized that we’ve moved residences 4 times. The first move was easy, four months pregnant with our first daughter, all we had to concern ourselves with was making the transition (and the packing) as a couple--our biggest challenge being that we didn’t lose granma's silverware. Once the kids started coming, moving day became a major physical, emotional, psychological production—and I’m not even talking about the kids yet!

Here are some tips we’ve learned along the way, that has made Moving Day less about tears, tantrums and jarring adjustments (for the kids as well!) and more about looking forward to an exciting new adventure.

1       Prepare Them Beforehand

I can’t emphasize this enough—mentally prepare your child a week before to help make the transition as painless as possible. 

a.     While packing their things away, leave him/her with some familiar items that’ll ease the transition. Setting special items aside now will save you the headache later on of frantically searching through box upon box for “Teddy” while your adjusting toddler screams in the background.

b.     Give them something fun to look forward to: “You know when we move houses next week, you’re going to have a new room, what color do you want to decorate your room with?”

c.      Involve her in the process: “When Daddy and I go shopping for a new TV/sofa/bed/refrigerator, do you want to come to the store and choose with us?”

2        
           Make It An Adventure

a.     Highlight an “asset” in your new place: her new pink room, a pool, a playground, a nearby park to visit, closer to playmates, grandparents etc

b.     Tour her around her new place and neighborhood: “See our new kitchen? I can put all of your juice packs in here and you can sit in your chair here with Mummy and Daddy” or “Look, our neighbor has a cute puppy, do you want to say hi to the puppy?”

3           
           Familiar Sights, Sounds and Smells

Nothing’s more comforting in unfamiliar surroundings than the scent of her own pillow, touch of her favorite snuggle toy or sound of her bedtime lullaby. Make sure to have these ready for her first night in her new home. Place something familiar in her crib/room for bedtime to make her new sleeping quarters seem more like home—beddings, stuffed toy, blanket, a familiar nightlight, music box—whatever she has lived with and slept with her whole life. Read the same bedtime books and try to have the same night-time rituals.

4       
                  Help Her Stake Her Claim  

“This is your beautiful pink/blue/purple room (a little excitement and exaggeration can’t hurt), you can put your toys here in your toy chest and your clothes and shoes here in your new closet. You can also play here with your favorite toys, look Teddy already found his spot on your bed, isn’t this nice?”

         
            Choose a New Item She Can Bring Into Her New Room

It doesn’t have to be expensive. In our daughter’s case, it was a small rug in her favorite color pink that she got excited about bringing into her new room. In our previous move, it was flower decals to stick on her wall. Involve her in choosing one or two special items to bring into her new space.

Last but not least, an important tip for parents, gone are the days when you’ll have the time, the luxury or the energy to organize every single item in every single box pre-move, what we discovered made packing less traumatic for us was packing and labeling boxes per room (ie: Kids Room, Master’s Bathroom etc) and then briefly scribbling down a general list of things inside (ie: Kids Room: toys, beddings, Master’s Bath: toiletries).  So that when the movers brought our things into our new home, we just pointed them to the appropriate room and just unpacked later on.

Happy moving!