Are you moving house with kids soon? Just like how a child’s first day of school can be both exciting and nervewracking, moving homes can also be a big adjustment for your little ones. Moving is a very stressful moment in life, with a lot of planning and packing to do. Moving to a new house can be even more difficult for children to handle because they often feel like they have no control over the change. Kids need time and extra attention so that they can transition to the new home smoothly.
Parents don’t get to go scot-free either. From notifying utility companies to packing the things to bring, everyone has a long checklist. While each family has their way of dealing with a big move, some tried and true methods can help everyone cope with moving day stress when you’re moving house with children.
Here are some tips for moving house with kids to keep everyone happy and calm when moving house with children.
Have Open Discussions With Your Kids
You might be considering a move for a change of scenery or need for a bigger home. However, you might be moving for career or financial reasons, meaning the decision is not yours to make. In any case, you need to include your children in your discussions, giving them as much information about the move as possible. Take into account your child’s personality and your moving circumstances when talking with them. Be open and honest about your childrens’ questions and reactions, whether it is positive or negative. This will help your child feel more at ease about the change. One strategy is to have regular take-away or game nights followed by discussions about the move.
Visit Your New House Together
Take your kids to your new home before the big moving day. Show them all the rooms, especially their bedroom, as well as the neighbourhood. If possible, take them to important areas like the nearby park, shops, or school. This is a good time for your child to meet neighbours or to make new friends, allowing them to better adjust to their new surroundings. By visiting the new area with your kids, it will help get rid of uncertainty about the move.
Focus On The Positives
Children will usually focus on the big changes so it is important to reassure them of the things that will stay the same. Tell them that their toys, books, and clothing will be coming with them. Try to tell them of the advantages of moving to a new house and explain why it is a positive experience. Highlight the great things about your new house or city, rather than complaining about the aspects that you don’t like and make the effort to avoid comparing your new house to your old one, as this will remind your children of what they have lost. Also, even though you may be tired or stressed from planning a move, keep a positive attitude about everything. If your children sees that you are positive, they’ll feel more confident that everything will be alright.
Get Them Involved As Much As Possible
Often, children will feel like they have been ignored in the whole decision process. Also, if you just tell them about what it is like to move house without having tangible experience, they will have difficulty understanding the implications of your words. That is why you need to involve them in many activities related to moving.
You could let them create a scrapbook of drawings and photographs of both your old and new home. Read children’s books about moving and have them help out with selecting furniture for their new room or packing an essentials box for your first few days at the new house. Allow them to be present on the big day. They can watch the movers, have a more personal experience of what a move involves, and process the fact that their valuables are being carried out of the house.
Packing up all your belongings can be a daunting task, even with the help of companies like MoveDay Movers Jacksonville, Florida – especially if you’re preparing boxes for multiple people! So if your children are of age, don’t miss out on the opportunity of having them help out. This can come in many ways, from packing and organising boxes to setting up a garage sale to get rid of old items.
By involving your children in the packing process, they’ll be able to feel a sense of ownership and independence in their actions, which is immensely helpful in the transition process. It can also indirectly teach your children important soft skills, like organisation and decluttering.
Maintain Routines
Routines may be difficult to maintain during the chaos that is moving house, especially since you will be removing items and furniture and have many people coming and going. Leave some of that chaos to removal companies, so that you have time to focus on your kids. Children are dependent on predictability so any significant change removes the security that comes with routines. Try to maintain daily or weekly rituals so that things are not too disruptive for your child. Keep having takeaway or movie nights, weekend family trips, or regular recreational activities to show your children that everything is okay. Once you move to your new house, maintain these rituals to help your kids feel reassured and have a better transition.
Be Mindful of Packing Priority
When packing, always start with the least important and used items first. These typically consist of the items that are in storage or on shelves that you don’t frequently access.
As the date of your move approaches, begin packing goods that get used somewhat often, but not necessarily daily. This includes off-season clothes, books, toys, and extra bedding.
For items that are used daily, like toothbrushes and pyjamas, pack them a few days to at most a week before the move. Keep a separate bag for all the essentials that you’ll need on your first night in the new house. It might also be a good idea to find moving checklist inspirations online before you start packing to make sure you don’t forget anything!
As for items in your children’s room like their favourite toys, pack them last. This way, they will feel a sense of security in their routine and have access to their favourite items until they’re ready to depart. It’ll also make it easier for the whole family to adjust to their new surroundings once everything is unpacked.
Make Sure You’re Ready Too
Before helping your children acclimate to the relocation, you must ensure your own moving responsibilities are in order too! This means ensuring that packing, logistics, and everything else required for the big moving day go as smoothly as possible.
Enlist the help of your friends, family, or even professional services like interstate removalists with Muval to make things a lot easier on yourself. It might be a good idea to make a timeline far in advance too. This way, you’ll be able to manage your time while also focusing on your children and giving them the emotional support they need during the move.
Allow Your Child To Say Goodbye
Even though everyone has access to the internet nowadays, it can still be a shock for children to leave everything and everyone they know behind.
Be sure to encourage your child to say goodbye to their friends, teachers, and other loved ones around your current home. It’ll help with the grieving process and make the transition to their new home a lot smoother.
If you’re moving far away, you can initiate a farewell party for your child’s friends a few days before the move. This can be in the form of a picnic at the park or a sleepover party at their friends’ house.
Prepare your children for the big moving day by following these tips. With a bit of planning, time, and special attention, your kids will be able to better comprehend and adjust to the move to your new home.
Moving house checklist
Around two months before you move
- Book time off work
- Get the school stuff sorted – get them registered at a new school and make sure all their records are transferred
- Order plenty of packing boxes and tape – top tip: Shurgard has many lots of sizes of boxes, all of which are fairly priced
- Start ditching all the things you don’t need
- Get quotes in for removal companies and book your removal company of choice
- Check/organise home insurance.
In the month before you move
- Sort out the switchover for all your bills and utilities. Now is a good time to go and shop around – check out sites like U Switch to see if you can save on any of these as part of the move
- Get all your addresses updated across all things bills, financials and subscriptions and set up mail redirects for any other post
- Let the council tax people know you are moving home so you can ensure you’re paying the right amount
- Childcare – make sure you have booked in someone to help look after the sproglets so you can focus on the exhausting task of getting yourselves all moved!
- Other help – try and rope in other friends and family to help you on the day. Many hands really does make light work!
- Packing – packing, packing, packing! Make sure every box is labelled obviously as to which room it will be going in and scribble a rough list of what is in each one on it.
- Consider putting some items into storage whilst you move and be savvy about this.
- Organise any parking restrictions you might need for the move with your local borough/s. I’m leaving plenty of buffer for this one!
A week to a few days before
- Pack an overnight bag
- Pack a box of kitchen essentials, snack box, toiletries box for ease of access
- Do a big last round of laundry – nothing worse than taking lots of dirty laundry with you to the new house!
- Bag up some spare duvets and pillows if you have them with bedding on so you can have something clean to sleep on your first night in the new place.
- Start emptying out your fridge and freezer and get on with the defrosting and while you’re at it have a bit chuck out from your kitchen cupboards of any foods that haven’t seen the light of day for too long.
- Pack up all your valuable items and documents
- Starting planning what will go in the first delivery, the second delivery etc etc
- Get all the packing across the house finished including and dismantling that needs doing
- Go through the garden and make sure you’ve packed up anything that might be knocking around in there – shed included.
- Keep your mobile phone on you at all times to it doesn’t get mixed up in the crazy!
On the big day
- Ship the kids out to whoever is taking them
- Do any last minute packing that needs to be locked down
- Do a triple check for anything you might have left behind and make sure everything is disconnected
- Welcome the movers and make sure they know exactly what they are doing
- Once the last van has gone do one last final check and then say bye bye to your old home and hello to your new home
- Pour yourself a big glass of wine!
Good luck with your move!
Happy home photo created by prostooleh – www.freepik.com
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Moving can be stressful with children, Above tips that will be really help you when you’re looking to undertake a house move as a busy parent.