Month: August 2022

Categories
Moving Tips

How to Move with Kids the Easiest Way

5 Easy Steps for Moving With Kids

Moving is already complicated. When you add kids to the mix, it can be downright harrowing regardless of how old they are. Whether you have a toddler, tween, or teenager, moving can be emotionally draining on everyone regardless of if you’re moving across the country or the next town over. Luckily, there are a couple of steps you can take to make the move easier on your kids. Of course, every child and family situation is different, but the below tips can make relocating easier for the entire family.

Talk to Your Kids About Moving for a Smooth Transition

Unless your child is still a baby, you should have an age-appropriate conversation with them to explain why you’re moving. Toddlers might not need to know all the details, but they should still be informed. Maybe you’re moving for work or perhaps you’re moving to be closer to friends and family. Whatever the reason, it’s better to let them know as soon as possible. After all, children seem to have a sixth sense when the household vibe shifts. Plus, it will be difficult to hide things like packing supplies and moving boxes!

At your next family meeting, include the topic of moving to the agenda. Moving is a big change for kids, especially if they’re already in school so they might need some time to absorb the news and process the information. Try to give them a bit of space in the beginning as their entire world has just changed. Some kids might take the news in stride, of course, but make sure to check-in periodically during the days leading up to the move to make sure they’re okay.

Get Everyone Involved for a Smoother Move

Sure, your kids might not be able to veto the move, but they can at least be involved in the process. Whether you’ve already closed on a new home or not, there are plenty of ways you can get them involved in the process. This will give them a sense of empowerment and make the move more attractive as they’ll be helping with the decision. Of course, their level of involvement depends on their age and their enthusiasm. However, even if they’re not particularly excited about a move, you can still get them involved by doing the following:

  • Give them a vote when looking for a new home. They might not want to spend days looking at homes in person, but many will be more than happy to look at online photos and point out specific amenities they want like their own bedroom, a backyard, a pool, etc. Take their opinions into consideration when making your final choice.
  • Take them on shopping trips. While younger kids might not enjoy trips to the hardware store, they may like going shopping for fun stuff like decorations, new furniture, and the like. You can also help them decide on the look of their new bedroom by choosing paint colors, pillowcases, toys, etc.
  • Let them pack their room. Giving your kids ownership of their part of the move can help them feel like part of the process. Of course, the tasks you give them should be age appropriate. For toddlers, you might simply ask them to pack their toys in boxes. Teenagers, on the other hand, can pack their room by themselves.

Research New Schools Early

Switching schools is a big deal for kids. They’ll have to make new friends, deal with new teachers, and figure out the rules of the new school. It’s one of the biggest changes for your kid and the older they are, the harder the transition can be. While your child will likely feel anxious regardless of how much research you do, the more they know the better! Compile a little report of everything you know about the school and include things like photos, school mascot, colors, extracurricular activities, distance from your new house, etc. For yourself, you should also see if there’s a parent group for the schools where you can ask questions about bullying, school policies, and so on.

After you’ve done that, see if you can schedule some time before the move for an orientation. While you can’t control when you need to make a move, you would ideally move during the summer to avoid mid-year transfer. That way, your child can also check out the school during the summer and potentially get a walk-through from the guidance counselor, principal, or vice principal and get any lingering questions they might have answered.

Check Out the New Neighborhood

If you’re moving for work, see if you can negotiate a visit to the new area as part of your relocation package and take your child(ren) along. You can use this time to explore the neighborhood and find kid-friendly places such as parks, playgrounds, nearby restaurants, and so on. If your child is younger, going to a park or playgrounds is a great way for you and your child to make new friends.

For tweens and teens, your best bet is to look for locations and clubs that match their interests. Many towns have a local 4-H club where kids of all ages can work together to complete various projects in the fields of health, science, agriculture, and civic engagement. For more active kids, go to a recreational field and see if there’s an open game they might be able to join. Many places have more informal youth sports activities.

Ultimately, the more familiar you get with the area, the more your child will feel at home when you make the move. Plus, it will also help you out when you move as you’ll know where all their favorite places are!

Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Ensure a Stress-Free Move

There’s nothing worse than having to rush through the moving process and it can be overwhelming even as an adult. Imagine what it must feel like for a child or teenager having their whole world turned upside down in a couple of weeks! In order to avoid emotional turbulence and tantrums, take the move slowly. If you’re moving for work, see if you can get two months to move. This way, you don’t have to cram everything into a single month and, instead, can do a little bit every day. It will also give your child time to adjust and get used to the idea of moving to a new place.

If you really want to save time, you should hire professional movers. If you’re moving to or from NJ, there are dozens of options to choose from, but you should always look up reviews to find movers NJ residents trust. When hiring movers, make sure to let them know what services you need such as packing, storage, plastic bin rentals, and so on. Hiring NJ movers can free up time you can spend hanging out with friends, hosting a going-away party, or dealing with the occasional meltdown of one of your children.

Visit Your Favorite Places Before Leaving Your Old Town

Carve out some time every week before you move to visit some of your and your child’s favorite places in your old neighborhood. Visit restaurants, attractions, and catalog everything! Heck, you can even create a digital or physical scrapbook of your old hometown so you and your child can look back fondly on these memories. Don’t forget to check in on old friends as well and get their contact information including phone number, email address, social media connections, and home address so you can stay in touch.

Don’t try to cram everything into a single day. Instead, spread out your visits over a few days. That way you can still get some moving necessities done while treating yourself to something fun in the middle or end of the day. Plus, your child will be less likely to be overwhelmed if you sprinkle in some fun things to do over the course of the move.

Establish a Routine as Soon as You Move

People in general thrive on routines. Once your move is done, you should do something familiar as a family to unwind after. Maybe that’s a family movie night or perhaps playing a board game together. Whatever the routine is, stick to it!

If you have younger children you’ll want to stick to your daily routines as much as possible once you move into your new home. It will provide a sense of normalcy for your children and will help keep you on track as well! Of course, you might have to make some exceptions as you’ll need to unpack, but you try to stick to your bedtime and nap schedule as much as possible.

Make Moving Easier with Your Children

Moving is stressful at any age, but for children, it can be a hugely disrupting life event. While these tips can help manage their stress, don’t forget to regularly check in with your children to make sure they’re doing okay. If it looks like your child is struggling, take some time off from packing or unpacking and go outside or maybe just relax with a family movie night. These short breaks can help your child and you feel better!

Categories
General

How to Manage and Reduce Stress During Your Move

How to Manage Stress During Your Move

Moving to a new home or apartment is equal parts exciting and stressful. You get to finally move into your dream place (hopefully) that you can decorate as you see fit. However, after a couple of days of packing, organizing, and cleaning, the excitement starts to fade as you realize that the tasks you need to complete will take hours if you want it done correctly. Moving day is no exception. Even if you hire professional NJ movers, you still need to make sure everything you packed arrives in one piece and then go through the arduous task of unpacking.

It’s no surprise that with all the moving parts you need to manage that moving can be an incredibly stressful experience. Add kids and/or pets into the mix and moving can feel like an impossible task. Luckily, there are some things you can do to manage stress during your move.

Start with a Complete Moving Plan

One of the first and best steps you can take is to break the task of moving into several smaller steps. Take a couple of hours and write down everything you need to do to make the move successful. Don’t rush this part! The more detailed your plan is, the easier it will be in the long run. A few items to include on your to-do list include:

  • Creating a budget
  • Researching nearby movers
  • Getting necessary documents from your doctor’s office and vet’s office if you have pets
  • Finding/purchasing packing materials
  • Organizing your belongings and selling and/or donating them
  • Packing everything up
  • School transfer information if you have kids
  • Scheduling utilities turn on at the new location

And so on Once you’ve created this list, you can start scheduling everything out and setting deadlines for each of the items. You can also organize the list by urgency and leave some of the smaller details like mail forwarding until after you settle into your new place. There are a lot of moving pieces, but having a master plan you can refer to when you feel overwhelmed can help manage your stress levels.

Start with Small Tasks to Make Moving Easier

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Unless you have to move suddenly, you should start planning your move at least a month before your actual move date. This way, you can get at least one or two things done a day. While it might not seem like much in the beginning, every task you complete in advance means one less thing you need to worry about on moving day.

Larger tasks like decluttering can be done over the course of several days or even weeks so don’t try to cram both of these into one day. When it comes to decluttering, try to get a room done a day. Areas that you use as general storage (garage, basement, etc.) might require a few days as you’ll probably have to sift through a lot of stuff so break these up into two or three days. Decluttering can be a tedious process, but it will make packing a lot easier. Separate everything in the room into three piles: keep, donate/sell, throw out, and then organize every item into one of the three piles. Once you’re done, put the donate/sell items into a box and put them somewhere out of the way. After you’ve decluttered everything, you can host a garage sale to get rid of all your unwanted items. If you still have items left over, give them away for free. If they’re in good shape, drop them off at your nearest Goodwill store.

Like decluttering, you should do your packing over a few days. Start with rooms/areas that you don’t use often like a guest bedroom or attic and create an inventory of everything in these rooms. Make copies to keep on hand in a moving binder and to give to movers if you hire them.

Seek Help from Friends, Family, or Hire Professional Movers

You don’t have to move by yourself! Enlist the help of friends or family when it comes to packing or moving heavier things if you’re going the DIY move. Even if they won’t help with the move itself, they might be able to help in other ways such as:

It’s never easy to ask for help, but know that your good friends and family members are usually more than willing. Just remember to return the favor by providing some food and drinks after the move and answering their call should they need to move in the future.

Of course, the other form of help you can enlist is that of the professionals. There are plenty of NJ moving companies that can make moving day a breeze and many offer a variety of services from the standard loading/unloading of your items to full-service packing and storage. While hiring pros will be more expensive than going the DIY route, it can save you a lot of time on moving day and you won’t have to worry about getting hurt because you were lifting heavy items. Just make sure you have enough money in your budget to cover these costs. Many movers will do their best to work within your budget. Even if you’re only able to afford the most basic service of loading and unloading, you’re still saving yourself some time on moving day.

Research Thoroughly About Your New Neighborhood

Sure, it might be exciting to move to a new neighborhood, but it can also be a bit scary especially if you’re not familiar with the area. How will your commute change? Where is the grocery store? Where’s the nearest gym? And the questions keep piling up. Before you know it, you might be more anxious than eager at the prospect of your new place.

To ease your mind, start doing some research ahead of time when you have a few moments. This can be as easy as plugging your new address into google maps and searching around the area to find points of interest such as laundromats, grocery stores, restaurants, home improvement stores, etc. If you live a reasonable driving distance away, consider taking a cruise around the neighborhood and familiarize yourself with the local streets, stores, and parks. Introduce yourself to your future neighbors and get to know the locals beforehand. By the time you move in, you’ll feel more at home.

Don’t Forget to Say Your Goodbyes

With all of the logistics of moving, it’s all too easy to fill up all your available time with packing, decluttering, and so on. However, carve some time out in the last week or so before your move to say your goodbyes. The best part is that you don’t need to plan anything elaborate. A simple barbecue or potluck would be a great option and you can invite your friends and neighbors. If you’re planning to move far away, you might want to set aside a full day for family members and close friends so you can really spend some quality time with them. Goodbyes are hard, but setting aside enough time for them can help you and your family not feel so overwhelmed.

If you have children, saying goodbye is especially important. You want to make sure they get a sense of closure and are able to see their friends one last time. Make sure to also check in with your children during the move to see how they are doing and what they would like to do to say goodbye to friends, family, and even the house. This might mean having play dates at their favorite park, going to their favorite restaurant, and maybe even taking some pictures of the old house and creating a scrapbook. If doing the latter, make sure to leave some empty pages at the end so they can take pictures of their new home!

Eliminate Stress on Moving Days

As you can see, planning is at the heart of all moves. The more time you have, the more you can split apart tasks into more manageable chunks. Speaking of planning, don’t forget to plan some downtime as well! This might mean taking a bath, eating a meal at your favorite restaurant, reading your favorite book, or having a family movie or game night. Taking the time to unwind and take your mind off the impending move can help melt away the stress.

Don’t neglect basic necessities either during your move. Create a healthy meal plan and stick to it! There are plenty of meals that you can cook in under 30 minutes. Also, make sure you get some exercise, stay hydrated, and get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. You’ll need as much energy as possible during this time.

Moving house is an adventure so make sure you enjoy the ride. As stressful as it might be, there are a lot of positives to moving. Write them all down and remind yourself of them when you start getting anxious. If everything still feels overwhelming, consider bringing in professional NJ movers to help out!