GOOD MOVE

Moving With A Young Family

By Elena Diedrick-Lynch, Jamaica

Moving is a lot like losing weight – as much as you hate the process, sometimes you just have to go through it. Moving with a young family can be chaotic, but if you organise things in stages you can retain your sanity.

Ideally, you should give yourself two months to get organised for the big day. This gives everyone time to adjust to the idea of moving and allows you to ensure the packing doesn’t drive you completely mad. Here are some great tips on how to make your move easier on everyone:

PRE-MOVING DAY

Make sure you have all of your supplies. Call around to supermarkets and find out when they have their deliveries and have them put up some boxes for you. Make sure you get some strong packing tape and markers to identify each box.

Get your kids involved with the move by giving them jobs like stacking books and DVD’s (the non- breakables) in smaller boxes. Have the kids decorate the boxes while you’re packing.

Help your little ones with an activity on moving day.

Organising a play date for them or put together a ‘Moving

Day Activity bag’ with snacks, juice boxes and quiet activities like colouring books and crayons, books to read, or the family iPad with some new stories or games for them to explore. This will ensure little ones are safely occupied and out of the way of big boxes and furniture coming in.

Getting your family ready to move presents a great opportunity to trim the fat and de-junk. Put three boxes in your children’s rooms; tag them as “ Keep, Give Away and

Sell”. If you’re like me you might also want a “Dump” box for anything that can’t be cleaned up to be given away. You can even go a step further by implementing the six-month rule – if you haven’t seen it or used it in six months, put it in the

“Give Away” or “Junk” pile.

We all want to teach our kids good morals and values, and incorporating a charity box is a great way to do that. Teach your children from an early age that they don’t always need to keep everything – especially when they’ve outgrown it. Use the same six-month rule with your kids’ toys and books. If you’re tired of reading the same story night after night they might be too. Ask them how they feel about sharing the book with some other children who might enjoy it more – empower them by having them place it in the charity box. For children that are writing, have them write little notes that will go along with their old stuffed animals, books or toys so the next owner can appreciate where it’s from.

*NOTE: The charity box can be kept in the house after you move and at each gift-receiving opportunity have your child choose one item for every new gift they receive that they’re willing to give away to another needy child.

Make a simple checklist for each room of what must be packed. You can find some easy templates online; my favourite is on realsimple.com. Sit your children down and help them write their own lists so that when it comes time to pack they can make sure what they want comes with them.

Number the boxes that come out of each room – so if you . have 4 boxes for your son’s room make sure you write “1 of 4, 2 of 4” etc. Boxes can be easily misplaced or left behind and this way we make sure your kids have all of their stuff where they can find it which will make the readjusting to a new space that much easier.

If your family is like mine, you may tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. Make a note of the contents of each box by its number, so when you reach your new house you can make it a home that much faster by knowing exactly where to find those indispensable items.

Always organise the bedrooms first, and make the children's room your top priority. If night falls while you’re still very much in the throes of your move they can go to bed and feel a sense of normalcy because they have their own space set up.

Packing your life and your stuff into boxes to move into a new house can be stressful, but if you organise yourself and stay focused on the goal you can teach your children to do the same and help them adjust and quickly make your new house a home.

Happy Moving!