Sitting on the front porch of our new home, I recently attempted to brainstorm with my husband some tips he thought might be helpful for families who are preparing to move. Recalling our own recent experience, he jokingly stated, “Don’t move.” However, I realize that is a bit unrealistic!
A Day of Phone Calls
It’s time for the dreaded phone calls. You first need to start by setting the date for transferring your services and notification of an address change. Make a list of all the places you will need to call (this list is typically very long). You can find some great resources online that help list the possible hard-to-think-of-places you will need to notify. It also helps to look through the mail each day to ensure you aren’t leaving anything out. Once you think you’ve called everyone, forward your mail and make sure you pay attention to the yellow labels as they arrive.
Accept Help
Moving is a lot of work! If someone offers to help, accept it. Extra hands can save a lot of time and headache. There is so much to be done before moving day. Packing boxes, cleaning, and child care are all wonderful jobs for helping hands.
Take, Hoard and Keep All Boxes
You can not have too many boxes! Once you start packing they go quickly. You will need more boxes (in more sizes) than you can possibly imagine. Start early: pack, tape, label, clearly label, and keep packing! Keep track of the boxes with dishes and breakable heirlooms – you might want to transport those items in your trunk for extra safety, rather than in a moving truck.
Pack a Travel Bag
When you arrive at your new house, you will have boxes everywhere. You will get through unpacking as many boxes as you can, but most likely they will not all be unpacked on the first night in your new home. It’s helpful to pack a travel back with a few days of clothing for your family and any toiletries you might need until you get all of your boxes unpacked and organized.
Leave the Big Items to the Professionals
Moving large items yourself saves money but isn’t worth injury to try and move the big stuff. We were so happy with our movers – they were reasonable, efficient and very careful with our belongings. I can’t imagine how long it would have taken us to move everything on our own. Depending on how far you’re moving, you might be able to take several loads of boxes to your new home to avoid some of what the movers are responsible for. We actually did this, and I wish I would have just let them do it all. One thing I would suggest is to carry all of your boxes that aren’t too heavy to the garage to allow them to load them much quicker and save you money.
Order of Priority
The two places I would suggest starting to unpack are the kitchen and your children’s rooms. My daughter got very excited about our new house as she saw her things from the old house taking over her new room. We also made it a goal to have their beds ready before bedtime, so we weren’t scrambling to make beds with cranky kids. Having the kitchen ready to go will keep you from digging around in boxes for the coffee and cereal bowls when you wake up on that first morning in your new home.
Did we miss anything? What are your best tips for parents?
