Are you my Mommy?

Are you my Mommy?
Are you my Mommy?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Moving 101

Disclaimer:  Whereas I have moved a plethora of times, I have never bought or sold a home.

Until a few weeks ago, this was my status as a homeowner.  This month that has all changed.

Disclaimer:  I have moved many times (see above), but always as a single individual.

This month however, I am learning how to move as a family unit including a husband (who likes to collect) and a toddler (who does not understand why life became so chaotic).

I have learned a few things and thought I would pass on my wisdom common sense hints that you probably already know...I wonder why I didn't know these things before...hmmmm....

Here I go...First of all, do not start packing too soon.  Our selling and buying situation went much more quickly than any of us (husband D, me, our agent, and even the economy) imagined. While we are extremely thankful to have gone under contract 10 days after putting on the market, it has become a whirlwind that increased in speed with their request for a quicker than normal move in date and the fact that we had not yet found our next home.  Back to my first moving hint:  we became so nervous/excited that we began packing literally immediately.

The Compromise:  We have reopened most of our packed and sealed boxes needing items (and not always knowing which box to open).


Second, packing so quickly can lead to finding new ways to do daily activities.  D packed our office supplies and Mr. B wanted to do his number game (aka learning numbers).  Big box = chalkboard.

The Compromise:  Said toddler, Mr. B, finds every permanent marker for box labeling to draw on said boxes or whatever surface is nearby.


Third, a family means that real meals are essential, thus we are packing the kitchen last.

The Compromise:  Kitchen items become most accessible household possessions and thus are more readily used by toddler for toys.  This actually makes me happy as I prefer non-traditional/non-big-box-store purchased toys.


Fourth, obtain boxes from everyone you know including friends, colleagues, grocery stores (apple boxes are awesome), offices (paper boxes work great for books....we have many).  Make sure to break them down for easy travel home in your car.

The Compromise:  Flat boxes leaning against couch between coffee table can and will be used by toddlers as makeshift home slides.  Same boxes also make a great hiding place and with Mr. B's quietness he really does get to hide.


Fifth, leave out small games that your family enjoys as you will need down time at the end of each day.  You will feel worn out physically from lifting boxes and emotionally given frustration of looking for items that were packed too early (see the first hint above).

The Compromise:  Mastermind is only fun so many times...:)...in reality, evening games and occasional movies (I highly recommend The Help after reading the book) has been a great way to unwind.

Sixth: Crockpots are amazing devices.  To have a warm healthy porridge ready when you wake up, to cook up healthy beans to minimize pantry contents, etc.


The Compromise  My toddler knows that he world is a little topsy turvy, so he decided to add a new twist of learning to climb out of his crib, over and over and over and over again.


The Sweet Reward:  Learning just how resilient your family is in handling change and chaos.  Toddlers really are amazing when you think about handling being off schedule with major environmental changes that tend to come with moving.  and husband D learned a valuable lesson (ooo this should be the seventh hint): do NOT pack up the belongings of a toddler in front of him/her. They take offense even if you treat these items nicely as well as suddenly need to play with that item even if it has not been touched in months.

1 comment:

  1. We also started packing early, but for the most part did a decent job of packing things that we could live without for a few weeks. The problem was on the other end -- since I'd learned we could live without the contents of those boxes (photo albums, memorabilia, etc.), I really just wanted to pitch them rather than have them cluttering our new (larger, but less closet space) place.

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