Moving is complicated even when there is just one person moving on their own. The more people a family has moving, the more complicated it gets. Especially if there are children involved. But moving with children doesn’t have to be a chaotic, stress-ridden mess. If approached correctly, a relocation with kids will go smooth and easy. To help you achieve just that, we decided to write an article on moving with children stress-free. So, read on and fear not, after we tell you our tips and trick, you will be a family relocation pro!
The importance of planning when moving with children
When it comes to moving, planning is a very important thing to do. Something Chelsea movers and other industry professionals might tell you is that it would be the best to set aside six to eight weeks prior to your move, for all the preparations. This goes double for moving with children. There are just so many things you will need to consider here.
Depending on their age, you might have to re-enroll them in a new school with all the paperwork that entails. On the other hand, you might have to pay extra care when packing, if your child is very young. Things like packing home appliances can result in a lot of small parts lying around which can easily become choking hazards. You might even need to have someone take care of your child while you do the packing. All this is why it would not be advisable to leave preparations for moving with children for the last moment.
How to go about moving with children
Now that we’ve talked about the importance of planning for moving with children it’s time to discuss how would one actually go about doing it. Starting from preparing your children for the move to helping them adjust after it, there are steps to moving with children you can take to make the move easier on them. Here they are:
Have a family meeting
Unless your child is a baby, they will understand the situation of the move. They will know that you are preparing to leave your old home and move to a new one. However, what they most likely won’t understand is the reason why. All this can lead to the move being a really stressful time for your child. To avoid this, you should have a family meeting where you explain the move to your child. Try to keep a positive atmosphere and have your child enjoy the meeting. Order their favorite food and make it a fun family night. You should also include them in the planning of certain aspects of the move depending on their age. This will result in your child feeling included and more in control of the situation.
De-clutter together
As cross country movers NYC might tell you, the move is the perfect time to de-clutter. While this is true for every move, when moving with children you can make de-cluttering into a fun activity. Make it into a sale with the goal being to raise funds for something your children might enjoy in their new home. It could be a gaming console, a new flat-screen TV or even a new pet. Then, let them decide which of their own items they would let go and to keep the ones they are emotionally attached to. Having a clear goal will make them let go of their excess items easier. Also, it will motivate them to take part in the sale. Depending on their age, you could also leave the wholesale to them, letting them have a fun activity to take their mind off of the move.
Pack and unpack together
Another thing you can do to make moving with children easier is to make packing and unpacking a family activity. Then, you can decide together what goes into your essentials box. They may add their favorite toy or something else that might comfort them during the move. Again, the goal here is to let the child feel included in the move. This will make them feel in control of the situation. If your child is old enough, you can let them pick out their own moving outfit and prepare their own essentials bag. Make sure that they packed everything the might need, however.
To make unpacking fun for your child, depending on their age, you can let them decide where each item will go. Including them in the decision on how to decorate the new home will make them feel more attached to the new space from the get-go. Another thing you could do, if your child is old enough, is let them decorate their new room. To an adolescent, their room has significant importance. Letting them be in control of this space and decide how it will look like will result in them feeling better about it. To reinforce this, you might even set aside a small budget to let your adolescent decorate their room before moving in.
When moving with children you should arm yourself with patience
Finally, a thing to remember when moving with children is just how big of an impact relocation has on their life. You might have moved more than once in your life. However, it is possible that this move is the first for your child. That means they are for the first time facing changing the entire environment of their life. It may even include letting go of the closest friendships they have. Therefore it is very important that you are there for your child in these turbulent times. Arm yourself with patience and understanding and avoid lashing out at your child even if the moving stress is mounting on you.
Moving with children stress-free
As you could see from our article, moving with children comes with its own complications. However, if approached right, this kind of move can also go down stress-free. It may take some additional time and work to execute right, but in the end, it will all be worth it!
