Summertime is moving season. Kids are getting out of school, vacation time is available, and life seems to slow down for a lot of people. But, if you really think about it, it seems crazy. Hey, it’s the hottest three months of the year, so let’s go ahead and sweat through three outfits each day packing, cleaning and schlepping boxes.
Last month, my husband and I moved our three kids (and the endless supply of crap we own) into a new house. While I am so grateful that we were able to buy a house, moving was probably my least favorite thing to do this year. Trying to pack up a house, while maintaining normal life for a 5, 3 & 1 year old, was a challenge to say the least.
Based on our experience, here are four suggestions I have for making the process just a little easier. No need to make the same mistakes I made!
Plan, plan, plan!
As soon as you know you are moving, sit down and create a schedule for yourself. Maybe you have movers, or maybe you are the movers. Either way, having a plan in place will help to avoid some of the chaos and frustration that can come with packing up a house. Also, start early. We all have random kitchen appliances or scarves that we haven’t used in years, but we just cannot get rid of. Anything that you aren’t using on a daily basis, pack. I packed my first box the day our offer was accepted. Don’t get me wrong, I was still shoving things into boxes as the movers were taking out the furniture, but it was far less than if I had waited to begin.
Get the kids involved. 
Give your kids a box and ask them to pack something. Now, if you’re like me, this is a terrifying suggestion. I like to pack as much into a box as possible; spare no space! It’s like playing Tetris each time. However, maybe it’s not the end of the world to end up with an extra box or two, if the kids are helping and staying out of our hair for a little bit. When the boxes were brought up to their new playroom, my boys were so excited to open the ones that they packed.
Make it fun. 
I realize that when you are moving, boxes are like gold. It feels like you are always scrounging to find just a few more. When my neighbor moved, I looked outside and saw an elaborate masterpiece of boxes in her front yard. She let her kids have a few boxes, and they went to town while she packed up the house. Genius! As we prepared to move, I saved boxes that I knew wouldn’t help much (Amazon boxes, diaper boxes, etc) so that the kids would have something to play with. You know what…it worked! They spent hours creating their robots and loved every minute of it. Once we got moved in, I saved a handful of boxes and let them create a fort. Yes, I had to sit down and cut the boxes and help them tape everything together, but then they played unassisted for an hour, giving me time to unpack a few more boxes.
Accept help, and ask for it if no one offers.
If someone has offered to watch your kids, help you pack or bring you a meal, say yes. There is no shame in getting help when you need it. I cannot stand asking for help. One thing I realized was the no matter what I was doing for the move, it would take five times longer when I brought the kids along. Sometimes, that was ok, but often, it made things way more stressful. A few times, I asked for help, and I am so glad I did.
If you are moving with kids, I will think happy thoughts for you. If you live in Vegas, I’ll help you pack or at least bring you a bottle of wine or margaritas to make packing a little easier. Just remember it’s ok to drink your margarita in whatever is available…including the kids’ cups.
It may be tough, but you’ll make it through!
I think it is good to try and get to get the kids involved. I think it makes it a little less scary for them and even gets them excited. Great tips, thanks for sharing!
I really like your idea about giving kids boxes to play with while everything is being packed up. When I moved with my family last year, I did a similar thing. We packed up a “last minute box” which had a few of dolls, accessories and markers in it. My girls then took the box and drew on it to turn it into a doll house for their dolls. That at least gave them a couple hours of entertainment.
Making it fun for the kids is smart. That way, they can enjoy themselves. If they start getting bored, they may start pestering you which could slow down your work. So, making it fun for them is s a smart idea for you and for them!
This is some great information, and I appreciate your suggestion to plan in advance to make packing easier. My husband and I are going to be moving in a few months, and I want to make sure that process goes as smoothly as possible. I’ll definitely start making a plan right now so I know I have all of the materials and have a procedure for packing. Thanks for the great post!
That sounds like it would be crazy moving with 3 kids under the age of 5! Thank you for your tips they are very helpful–especially the one about planning everything. My son and daughter-in-law will be moving next month and I will definitely share these tips with them.
I am so glad that I came across this article! My husband and I are going to be moving for the first time together in a few weeks and we haven’t known how to handle it with our kids. I think that these tips will be really helpful to us. We will be sure to keep these tips in mind, thank you for sharing!
I really like your tip about getting the kids involved when it comes to moving! My husband and I are going to be moving in the next few months so we will have to keep these tips in mind. We really want to get our kids involved so hopefully, with these tips, we will be able to do just that. Thank you for sharing!
Planning is essential of course! What’s helpful is having your kids help out, which can be tricky. Have to find a good medium to make it seem fun.
I really appreciate the insight here in this post and confident it’s going to be helpful to me and many others. Thanks for your post.
I like that tip to give your kids a box to pack. That way they’ll be invested in the move. It could also keep them out of your hair for a little while.
Sometimes it is very hard to find good content on this topic. But your blog is my way to desired information, Thanks for posting something worth reading. Great work.
Great fun kid-friendly moving tips! Thanks for sharing this. It is indeed an opportunity for fun-learning experience for the young ones.
It sounds like a really good idea to keep some boxes around so that your kids can play with them as you try to pack or unpack. My family is moving soon, and my two kids are both young enough that they wouldn’t really be able to help. This seems like a way for them to have fun, while sort of tricking them into thinking their helping. I’ll keep that in mind, but I think I’ll also look into relocation services to make it even smoother for them.
Having the kids help is a must for us! My husband and I moved 3 times in the past 5 years and giving our two kids their own chores and responsibilities give them a sense of accomplishment we noticed. And of course, the help is great!
Moving doesn’t need to be stressful! All it takes to have a successful move is to stay organized. When planned well, all you’ll need to do during moving day is load the truck so that you can take your
I absolutely love your ideas! I’m moving with my family to Olympia next year for my new job and I wanted to be sure that I prepare as best as I can for the move. If you wanna save a few bucks, don’t try to take everything with you, sell what you really don’t need or even donate them to charity. You can ask your kids if they have stuff that they don’t mind giving away. This will teach them about being charitable. Cheers!