Moving can be new and exciting, but the first thought if you have children involved is not one of joy.
Are you being transferred? Have you been ordered a permanent change of station with the military? Did you just happen upon you dream house on the other side of town? Moving may be new and exciting,
but the first thought if you have children involved is not one of joy. It is fear. Last time you moved before you had children, you loaded Friday, transported, unloaded, decorated, and hosted a party for Sunday's game. Now you have children. Even carefully planned, this could take months.
The first question to ask yourself is whether you should hire a moving company or not. If this is a military or corporate move, the service is probably offered to you, but be sure to check with the company footing the bill to see what options are available to you. For a price, a company will pack your things, load them, and transport them. Upon arrival at the new destination, unloading and even unpacking are services offered as well.
It may have been easy at your point of origin to find care for the little ones while you worked on tasks like packing, or while the truck was loaded, but in a new and strange place, the options for childcare will be lacking. You will need to be strategic. It sounds really nice to some people to have the professional moving company complete everything from beginning to end, and for some it is very nice to have things unpacked and to see all the packing and trash removed. Try, however, to place your family in the situation. Your things will not be unpacked and safely tucked away. They will be unpacked. The arranging and putting away is up to you. This is not an ideal situation for those with tots. You house will be a virtual toy box of dishes, breakables, and other enticing things.
Consider, on the beginning end, requesting for the workers to put your kids' belongings in the boxes that will come off the truck first. With a little tip and perhaps a free lunch complete with cold soda, you could convince the movers to unpack the toys and put together swing sets and such before proceeding with other tasks. Your kids have likely not seen their stuff in awhile and will be excited to get busy building, playing, and imagining. Snag a big box or two, throw some blankets, crayons, paper, and tape their way and they could be busy for days making forts, playhouses, magic trunks, or whatever it is that is so fascinating about boxes and tape.
Most of all just be patient and look at moving as an adventure. You will not be ready for the football game on Sunday, or the next Sunday, but you may make baseball season in the spring. Breathe deep and try to make memories.
