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Moving Tips

How to Move with Kids the Easiest Way

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!

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General

The Most Common and Important Moving Services for NJ Movers

It doesn’t matter how many times you move, the process is often overwhelming and stressful. For many, hiring professional movers to take over some tasks can be a huge relief, but not all movers are the same. Even within New Jersey there some moving companies offer more options than others. That’s why it’s so important for you to figure out what you want to do yourself and what you want to hire NJ movers for. If you’re curious not sure what services movers might offer, the list below can help you plan your next NJ move.

Local Moves: Find the Most Remarkable Moving Services

Perhaps the most common moving service requested of NJ movers. As the name suggests, residential moves help regular people move their belongings from their old house to their new one. In its most basic form, residential moving only includes loading and unloading of boxes and furniture from your old house to your new one. Some moving companies might provide other free services including:

  • Basic disassembly/reassembly of furniture
  • Wardrobe boxes
  • Some light packing of items such as lamps, paintings, etc.
  • Uninstallation of AC units and dismounting of TVs

Not all movers will offer these options though so unless you have confirmed this with the company directly, don’t assume they will do this for you! Even if they do offer these services, it might be better for you to do the disassembly, uninstalling, and dismounting of your furniture. It will reduce the overall time the movers need to spend, which can reduce your overall costs. Of course, most movers charge a minimum for their services so if you think that you won’t go over that amount with the additional work, then you might as well take advantage of these free services.

Packing and Unpacking: The Most Important Part of Moving

Next to lugging your boxes and furniture on and off a truck, the next task most people hate when moving is packing everything and then unpacking. It’s a huge time commitment and improper packing techniques can lead to broken items. And no one wants to see broken glass when they open up a packed box. Not all NJ movers provide packing and unpacking services, but there are many who do.

Of course, adding on this service will cost extra money so make sure you have the budget for it. With that said, you don’t have to spend a fortune to have your items packed. Many moving companies have a partial packing option. All you need to do is let them know what rooms you need help with and then you can pack the rest of your house. This option allows you to save money and still organize your boxes and belongings for the majority of your house without issue. If you don’t want to deal with packing at all, you can choose a full packing service. As the name suggests, the movers will pack everything up for you and, of course, provide the appropriate packing materials.

In addition to packing, you can also hire movers to unpack your boxes. It’s a great option if you have the money as you can immediately get settled into your new home. With that said, the downside to having others unpack is that they won’t necessarily put everything where you want it so you might have to spend some time after to organize properly.

Regardless of whether you choose full service or partial, you’ll need to provide an inventory of the items you want packed not just for the movers, but for yourself. That way if anything ends up missing, you have a record of every item that should have arrived at your new home. Reputable movers will have basic coverage for lost and/or damaged items of $0.60 per pound per item. Make sure to let them know immediately when you notice something has gone missing. The best companies might even reimburse you more than the baseline amount as an apology.

Storage: A Less Popular Yet Useful Moving Service

Although not as common as the other two services, many movers in NJ do offer some storage options. There are many reasons why you might need storage:

  • Can’t move into your new home yet
  • Moving from a larger to a smaller space
  • Long-term travel (1+ month)

And so on. Whatever your reason, you need a place to securely store your belongings. While there are plenty of third-party options available in NJ and beyond, one of the benefits of booking storage with a moving company is that you get an all-in-one service. Not only will they bring your items to storage, when you’re ready to move to your new place, they will bring everything to you at no charge.

If you need storage, make sure to ask the movers about their facilities. Not all companies offer the same amenities. Some might have simple outdoor lockers while others have climate-controlled options. While basic outdoor storage isn’t horrible, there’s no guarantee that your items will be safe during extreme weather events. If you want to make sure your belongings don’t suffer any potential damage from weather or temperature related issues, always opt for climate-controlled storage. You should also ask about the security of their facilities. Some might have a guard on-duty but no security cameras. Finally, ask about their rental length. Not all companies offer long-term storage so if you need something for longer than that time, make sure to ask.

Moving Boxes and Plastic Bins: The Most Useful Options

Sure, you can get cardboard boxes for free, but that means you need to spend time looking for them and then lugging them back to your home. Not everyone has the time or interest in spending weeks looking for boxes. Plus, used boxes might already suffer from some damage and could fall apart during your move. You can buy new boxes from the home supply store, but you’re not guaranteed high quality materials.

If you want to make sure your belongings are safe, you should purchase directly from movers. Not only do they source their boxes from high quality vendors, they also have a variety of sizes to choose from so you’re not stuck with comically large or small boxes. These boxes can withstand the moving process and you can always save them for later or donate them to someone else in need. For those looking to be more environmentally friendly, you can rent plastic bins from moving companies. These bins are a great option as they are easily stackable and water-resistant so they won’t break down in even the heaviest downpour. Plus, since they’re rented they don’t take up any unnecessary room in your new home. Just call up the movers and they will pick them up.

Which Is the Best Service for Your NJ Move?

There are a lot of options available so it can be overwhelming. Your best bet is to figure out your needs as well as your budget. From there, you can decide what options make the most sense for your move. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask! Reliable NJ movers will work with you to create a personalized moving experience that works within your budget.